The Boltons
by Abandoned.See new ZefronsAngel
Summary: A typical day at a typical household could be described as fun, crazy, and busy. A typical day at the Bolton household could be described as all these things times nine. And that's just how many kids Troy and Gabriella Bolton have...so far.
1. Meet the Boltons

**I know you've all been excited for this for a while now, and I am, too! It's going to be a good story, I promise:) I couldn't bother to be too creative with the title, so sorry about that...but anyway, I'll stop this A/N and let you go ahead and enter the crazy world of the Bolton family:)**

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><p>A typical day at a typical household could be described as fun, crazy, and busy. A typical day at the Bolton household could be described as all these things times nine, as that was the number of children that Gabriella Anne Maria Montez-Bolton and her husband Troy Alexander Bolton had given birth to.<p>

When the two high school sweethearts had first married at age nineteen, they had known they'd wanted a large family. By "large" they had meant four or five kids rather than nine, but they were thrilled with the number of children they had worked together to create, as they felt that each new baby was a symbol of their love for one another.

Picking out names had been a difficulty for the two parents. When they had first married, they had chosen a few favorites, but once those were used up, it was a challenge to think of more they liked. However, they had managed to do so. At seventeen, Tyler Jack, sometimes called T.J., was the oldest. Sixteen-year-old twins Eli Alexander and Gabriel Christian, more often known as Gabe, were next. After them came Troy and Gabriella's first girl, Juliet Anne, who was fourteen. Daniel James was only a year younger than her. When Daniel was three, another girl, Karina Allison, was born. Next was Colby Andrew, who was eight. Six-year-old Carly Victoria followed him, and Jordyn Kayla was, at almost three, the youngest. However, she wouldn't keep that status for long, as Gabriella was three months pregnant with what she and Troy planned to be their last baby.

As you can probably imagine, Troy and Gabriella had a large home. It was complete with a spacious living room, a dining room that could fit a long table and sixteen chairs around it, a kitchen with two ovens, five bedrooms, an attic that they were working on turning into an additional room, and three full bathrooms. How could they afford all that? Well, Troy was a well-known lawyer and Gabriella had been, before she had decided to stay home with her kids that weren't yet in school, a pediatrician in one of the state's finest children's hospitals.

Another thing that could arouse curiosity is what each of the children are like. Most of that will be explained as the story progresses, but here's just a small preview.

T.J. was a senior at East High School who enjoyed math and wished to someday go into the engineering business. Although they were twins, Eli and Gabe each had very different personalities. Eli was quiet, shy, and studious, while Troy and Gabriella had to keep an eye on Gabe. He was the most popular boy in school, the captain of the basketball team, and had once gotten drunk at a wild party. Juliet was a sweet, artistic girl who loved painting and drawing and had plans to become an artist one day. An eighth grader at Northeast Middle School, Daniel enjoyed playing baseball and, because of his friendly, outgoing personality, had many friends. Karina was bold and often found herself in trouble for getting sassy with her parents. Colby was always full of energy and was always willing to try something new. Having just started taking ballet classes after begging her parents for two years straight, Carly had already made up her mind that she wanted to be a dancer when she grew up. Although she was still little, Jordyn had proved that she was sporty.

A typical day in the Bolton household went something like this: Troy and Gabriella would get up at six o' clock. Troy would start getting ready for work while Gabriella would take an hour to shower, get dressed, and run a comb through her long, dark curls before make Karina, Colby, and Carly woke up. Then, she made sure they were eating breakfast and getting ready to go to the bus stop. By the time they were out the door, Jordyn would wake up and Gabriella would help her get dressed, brush her hair, and pour some cereal into a bowl.

As was expected, the current day, which was a warm early spring one, proved to be no different than normal. All the kids except for Jordyn rushed to get ready and out to their bus stops at their designated times, while Troy quickly finished off a cup of coffee and gave Gabriella a kiss and an "I love you" before stepping out the door to leave for work.

"What do you say Mommy takes you to the park after lunch today?" Gabriella said once she and her youngest daughter were the only ones in the house.

"Yay!" Jordyn jumped up and down while clapping her little hands.

Gabriella smiled at the toddler's enthusiasm. "Alright. We'll go there, then. But right now, Mommy has to clean the kitchen. Could you please sit on the sofa and watch a movie?"

"Okay." Jordyn ran into the living room and climbed onto the sofa.

"What do you want to watch?" inquired Gabriella as she took the large box of DVDs from underneath the TV table and began to look through them. "We have Snow White, Cinderella, Toy Story, Winnie the Pooh..."

"Toy Story," Jordyn answered as she fidgeted around.

"That's a good one," remarked Gabriella as she took the movie from the case and inserted it into the DVD player. After pressing the "play" button, she announced, "Now, I'm gonna be in the kitchen. If you need to go potty, remember to tell me. I'll come to check on you in a little bit, okay?"

"Okay," the little girl spoke.

Relieved that her daughter was, hopefully, not going to get into any trouble while she was cleaning, Gabriella made her way to the kitchen.

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><p>Gabe stepped through the doors of East High to be greeted by a group of blonde girls in heels and mini skirts. After hugging each of them and giving a few of the more desperate ones a kiss on the cheek, he asked, "Hey, are you all going to Shane's party this Friday?" Shane was Gabe's best friend who wasn't exactly the best influence. His parents went out of town a lot and, since he was the only child, he was able to host parties in his home without getting into any trouble.<p>

The girls replied with giddy squeals of, "Oh, definitely!" as they ran their manicured tips through their straight hair.

"Great! I'll think of which one of you I wanna bring."

"You should bring me!" a girl in a silver halter top and a denim skirt that barely covered her butt exclaimed, sending a flirty smile in Gabe's direction.

"Shut up, Ginny! He took you last time! Remember, you were bragging about how you got him in bed with you?" a girl in a hot pink, tight tank top protested sharply.

With that, chaos broke out.

"Girls, girls, woah!" Gabe shouted, putting both his palms forward as a signal for the blondes to stop arguing. When their voices died down, he announced, "I pick...hmmm, let's see...let me go with..."

The girls huddled together and watched Gabe with wide, interested eyes.

"Courtney." Gabe winked at the girl he had chosen.

"Oh. My. Freaking. Gosh!" Courtney shrieked as she jumped up and down. Tossing her arms about Gabe, she gave him a sloppy kiss on the lips. "Thank you so much! I'm sure we'll have the best time _ever!_"

"I'm sure we will, babe. Now, what do you say I walk you to class?" Gabe's chocolate eyes, which he had inherited from his mother, met with Courtney's green ones. Smiling the smile that always won girls over, he slung an arm around her shoulder and started to walk in the direction of her classroom.

Eli, who had witnessed the little scene involving his twin brother and the group of blondes, let out a sigh. He hated tattling, but he knew that he needed to tell his parents of Gabe's plan to sneak out of the house to go to Shane's party, which would most likely involve alcohol, sex, and kids trying to sell drugs. For the moment, however, he tried to push the thought of his mind. There was no way he was going to be able to focus on school work if he was worrying about his brother the while day. Adjusting his glasses, he made his way down the hall and toward his locker.

That's when he saw her. The beautiful brunette girl he had grown to love. The only girl that hadn't laughed in his face when he had asked her to go to a dance with him the end of sophomore year. She was Abigail Sanders, Eli's girlfriend of nearly a year.

"Hey, Eli." Abigail smiled her sweet smile as she wrapped her arms around her boyfriend's waist.

Eli brought his lips to Abigail's in a brief greeting kiss while returning her embrace. "Hey, Abby."

"What's wrong?" queried Abigail. She had noticed the worry in both his voice and his blue eyes.

Letting out a sigh, Eli explained, "It's Gabe again. Just a few minutes ago, I heard him inviting some girl named Courtney to go to another one of Shane's wild parties this Friday."

"And you feel guilty telling your parents?" guessed Abigail.

Eli nodded and ran a hand through his dark hair. "Exactly. I know I have to, though."

"I know it's hard." Abigail took her boyfriend's hand and give it a comforting squeeze.

"Yeah, well, let's just get to class."

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><p>Although it seemed that the chaos was within East High School, it actually was worse that evening at home. Colby and Carly were fighting over who Troy would do homework with first while Karina was boldly declaring that she was going to call some friends rather than work on her report that was due the end of that week. Gabe was lying on his bed texting Courtney, Shane, and a bunch more friends. T.J. was busy on the computer looking at colleges he was interested in attending. Daniel was getting ready for baseball practice, while Eli, who was the one driving him, was getting his car keys from the room he shared with both his twin brother and Daniel. Upon her mother's desperate request, Juliet was sitting in the living room keeping an eye on Jordyn.<p>

"Karina, get off the phone now," Troy ordered, his blue eyes turning toward his daughter, who was chatting away with her best friend.

"Hold on," Karina said into the speaker. Bringing the phone away from her ear, she looked at Troy and rolled her eyes. "I'm in the middle of a very important conversation, Dad. Give me ten more minutes."

"Daniel and I are leaving now," Eli announced as he walked toward the front door, his brother right behind him.

"Alright," Troy acknowledged.

"Dad! Dad!" Colby cried. "How do you do fifteen times ten?"

"Daddy! How do you say this word?" Carly inquired loudly.

"No, Karina. Homework first, phone later," Troy insisted in a firm voice.

"Juliet, I need you to help with dinner!" called Gabriella from the kitchen, where she was preparing chicken parmesan and two large pots of spaghetti while struggling to chop vegetables for a salad.

"What should I do with Jordyn?" Juliet wondered.

Letting out a sigh, Gabriella pushed a strand of hair that had come out of the loose ponytail she had out of her eyes. "Give her to Dad," she decided.

"Honey, I can't watch her," Troy, who had overheard his wife, said. "I'm helping Colby and Carly with their homework and trying to get Karina to hang up the phone." He shot a disapproving look in Karina's direction.

"Then ask Eli." Gabriella flew from the cutting board to the stove to stir the spaghetti.

"He's taking Daniel to baseball," Juliet reminded.

Gabriella groaned as she tilt her head back and slapped her forehead in frustration. "Who else is available? T.J., maybe?"

"He's checking out colleges," Troy answered.

"Oh, that's right. I really don't want to interrupt that...um...what's Gabe doing?"

"He was in his room last time I saw him."

"Gabe!" shouted Gabriella. "Come down here and watch your sister, please!"

No reply was heard. However, a minute later, Gabe appeared at the bottom of the stairs dressed in basketball shorts that rose low, exposing a good portion of his navy blue boxers, a t-shirt, and sneakers. "I'm going out to play some basketball with Shane and the guys," he announced. Clearly he hadn't heard his mother's words.

"Oh, no, you don't," Troy spoke. "You're staying here to watch Jordyn while Mom makes dinner and then you're eating with us. You just ate fast food with your friends last night, so you need to have a real dinner tonight and you need to help out with your sister."

Gabe rolled his eyes. "Dad, can I have a life?"

"Don't talk to me like that. Now get in the living room and watch your sister."

Typing a text message to Shane into his full keyboard phone, Gabe walked into the living room and took Juliet's place on the sofa as soon as she got up to help Gabriella.

"I want to hear a story," Jordyn told her brother as she ran up to him holding a picture book.

Gabe sighed. "No story, okay? Why don't I take you outside?"

"Yay! Outside!" Jordyn exclaimed with delight.

A smile spread across Gabe's face. His plan was working. Grabbing his sister's sandals, which were right by the front door, he put them on her feet and called out, "I'm taking Jordyn outside to play."

"Okay," Troy said.

Gabe picked Jordyn up, then walked out the front door. He then hurried to the end of the driveway and along the sidewalk that led to the park, which was where he was to meet his friends. When he reached it, he placed Jordyn on a bench right by the basketball court and jogged over to the area underneath one of the baskets, where Shane and some other guys were. "Hey! My parents are forcing me to watch my little sister, so I had to bring her with me."

"That sucks," said Shane.

"Yeah," a blonde guy agreed. "Now we're stuck with a baby here."

"Well, we shouldn't have to worry about her too much. She'll just sit on the bench." Gabe shrugged. "Now, how are we doing this? Four on four?"

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><p>"Gabe? Jordyn?" Gabriella questioned as she stepped into the backyard and saw no trace of her son and daughter. "Where are you? Dinner's ready!" Making her way to the front of the house, she kept calling for Jordyn and Gabe. When she saw there was no sign of them, she went back inside. "They're not out there."<p>

Troy, who was putting the pots of spaghetti on the table, sighed. "I have a feeling I know where they went. Before Gabe started watching Jordyn, he told me he was going to play basketball with his friends. Not long after he started watching her, he said he was taking her outside. I should've known what he was planning. I'm really sorry."

"It's not your fault," Gabriella assured gently as she went over to her husband and gave him a brief, but tight, hug.

"Mom, do I have to eat the salad?" Colby asked as he looked with disgust at the large bowl full of lettuce and tomatoes that was in the center of the table along with the plate of chicken and the spaghetti pots.

"Yes, you at least have to eat a little bit of it. Now I'm going to the park to get Gabe and Jordyn. You can all start eating. Troy, make sure Colby and Carly both eat salad."

"Wait, you're going?" Troy queried. "I thought you'd want me to go."

"No, you go ahead and start eating. See you in a few minutes." After giving Troy a quick kiss on the lips, Gabriella ran up to the master bedroom, grabbed her purse, then dashed out the door and climbed into her car. When she reached the park, she walked right over to the basketball court and said in as stern a voice as she could possibly have, "Gabe, come on."

Gabe turned his head to look at his mother. "What are you doing here?"

"It's dinnertime. Now let's go." Gabriella lifted Jordyn from the bench, settled her onto her hip, and began heading back toward her car, Gabe following slowly behind. Once Jordyn was in her car seat, Gabriella got behind the wheel.

"Hey, Mom, let me drive home," Gabe pleaded. Ever since he had gotten his license just two weeks ago, he wanted to drive everywhere the Boltons went.

"No," Gabriella spoke firmly, but without yelling. She could never bring herself to yell at anyone. "Not after what you did. Dad and I are _not _happy with you about going behind our backs and going out with your friends, especially with your little sister. What if she had started running around and went in the middle of the road? She could've gotten hit by a car!"

"Sor-ry," came Gabe's sarcastic response as he reluctantly sat down in the passenger seat and fastened his seatbelt.

"Don't get smart. And by the way, you're grounded for a week."

"But Mom, what about the party on Friday?"

"Party?" echoed Gabriella. "What party?"

Gabe let out a groan. Why had he let that piece of information slip? Now he would never be able to sneak out of the house. "Never mind," he mumbled, pretending to be interested in something out his window.

"Gabe, you know you're not allowed to go to any more parties unless Dad and I approve of them. We don't want you to come home drunk again."

"But Mom-"

"We'll talk about this later," Gabriella decided.

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><p>"I found a college I think I'd like to go to," T.J. told his family at the dinner table after Gabriella had gotten back home with Gabe and Jordyn.<p>

"Really? Which one?" wondered Gabriella with both interest and curiosity.

"Stanford University. If I get straight A's for the rest of the year, I qualify for a scholarship and by looking at their website, it seems like they have a pretty good engineering program." T.J. took a bite of his chicken.

"I almost went to Stanford," Troy remarked with interest. "But then I decided on Berkeley since they seemed to offer a better law program."

"I went to Stanford," said Gabriella. "It was a really nice school. Most of the professors were really friendly and helpful. I think you'd love it there."

"So is it okay if I apply?" T.J. asked. "The site says that they're accepting applications and application essays anytime between now and the end of May and that if they look both things over along with my grades, they'll let me take a placement test over the summer."

"I think you should go for it," Troy encouraged as he shoved a forkful of spaghetti into his mouth. "Especially since you'll probably be able to go on scholarship."

"Does that mean you're gonna leave home?" Colby inquired, his blue eyes wide. He and T.J. had always had that close relationship that some siblings were lucky enough to have and until this point, Colby hadn't even considered the fact that his big brother wouldn't be around forever.

"Yeah, I'm afraid, so, buddy." T.J. confirmed dejectedly. Brightening up, he added, "But don't worry. I'll be home all summer and during both winter and spring breaks and I'm sure Mom and Dad will take you to come visit me at college a couple times a year."

"But you can't leave! You promised me that you were gonna take me rock climbing and canoeing and fishing and all that fun stuff." Colby felt tears well up in his eyes.

"I will. This summer before I go, I'll do all those things with you."

Colby didn't respond. Instead, he just used his fork to play with his spaghetti.

"Dad, could you come with me to the art program at school this Saturday?" Juliet requested. Ever since she was little, she had been a daddy's girl. No, she wasn't spoiled, and no, Troy didn't love her more than his other kids, but she was just the girl that had been attached to him more than Gabriella or any of her siblings. Karina was closer to her friends than her family, but the family member she trusted the most was Eli. Carly and Jordyn both preferred Gabriella, although Carly loved being a big sister and had always wanted to help give Jordyn her bottle and hold her when she was a baby.

"What is this art program exactly?" asked Troy.

"It's a thing for kids interested in art and their parents. You can look at different artwork all the art classes did so far this year and there's also going to be a few guest teachers there that are having different technique lessons throughout the day."

"What time is it?"

"You can come anytime after nine and it ends at six."

"I have to work in the morning, but I can definitely go with you after lunch." Troy smiled.

"You're working on a Saturday _again_?" Gabriella said.

Leaning back in his chair, Troy let out a sigh and ran his hand through his dirty blonde hair. "I'm afraid so, honey. I have this really complicated case. I'm not allowed to give out details about it to anyone, but all I can say is that it's definitely giving me a headache."

"I don't get why anyone would even want to become a lawyer," Karina commented rudely.

"Karina, what have we told you about using that tone of voice?" Gabriella inquired.

Rolling her eyes, Karina continued to eat her dinner without answering the question.

"I'm home," announced Eli as he walked through the front door. "Is there any dinner left?"

"Yeah," Troy replied. "But you'd better get some while you can because there's only two more pieces of chicken, a few lettuce leafs from the salad, and half a pot of spaghetti."

"Oh, I'd better make up a platter for Daniel when he gets home." Gabriella jumped up from her seat.

"You don't have to, Mom. Tonight at his practice the coach brought hot dogs and potato salad for everyone on the team." Eli sat down beside Gabe and took a spoonful of spaghetti, the rest of the salad, and a piece of chicken.

"Oh, okay. Did you find out what time he'll be done practice?"

"Yeah, he'll be done at eight."

Gabriella nodded in acknowledgement, then the meal continued in as much peace as it possibly could with eight kids around the table.

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><p>"Baby," Gabriella began. It was ten o' clock at night and all the little kids were finally in bed while the older ones were just finishing up their homework before going to sleep. Troy and Gabriella were in their room cuddled up under the covers of their bed and enjoying the few minutes of peaceful alone time they got before falling asleep.<p>

"Yeah?" Troy responded.

"Today when I was taking Gabe home from the park, something slipped out from him. It was about a party that's on Friday night. He didn't give me any details, but since it seemed to want to hide it from me, I'm assuming it's one that'll involve alcohol again."

Troy sighed. "Well then, I guess we'll just have to make sure we know where Gabe is on Friday, meaning where he is in the house."

"Well, I told him he was grounded for going to the park even after you told him he had to stay home, so he'll have no excuse for leaving to go anywhere."

"That's good."

"I just feel terrible in a way, though. I mean, he's our son and I don't quite trust him. I feel like I should trust him just as much as Eli or Juliet or any of the older kids really, but I can't. I feel that way about Karina sometimes, too, and I hate it." Gabriella rested her cheek on Troy's chest and felt comfort wash over her as he pulled her into a tight embrace.

"It's okay, Brie," comforted Troy. "I feel the same way you do about Gabe and Karina and to be honest, it scares me. Gabe's almost an adult and once he is, we won't be able to steer him in the right direction. As for Karina, sure, she'll be with us for another eight years, but will that be enough time to get her to be trustworthy and respectful?"

"I know, I worry about that, too."

"Well, I guess all we have to do is try our hardest to be good parents. I wish Gabe and Karina would open up to us more so we could help them, but they're always so secretive."

"Are we making them uncomfortable in some way?" Gabriella wondered.

"The only way we've treated them differently than the others is when we bug them to do their chores and homework because they're not doing it and they get in trouble a little more often, but other than that, I'd say we treat them the same as the others. But maybe because we keep asking them to do what they're supposed to be doing, they feel that we love them less than their brothers and sisters."

"You're probably right, but what can we do about that? We can't let them get away with not doing chores. The other kids have just as many chores as they do, but they do them the first time we ask and sometimes with the younger ones like Colby and Carly, we have to ask a second time, but that's still not as many times as we have to ask Gabe and Karina." After a moment of thought, an idea came to Gabriella. "I just thought of something! Maybe we could do stuff with them. I know they never ask us for a special trip with just one of us and one of them, but maybe we could see if they would be willing to do that."

"That's a great idea, Brie!" Troy said. "We should try it."

"Yeah." Gabriella sighed. "Having nine kids is hard."

"I know, but we'll make everything work out. I promise." Troy leaned down to kiss his wife on the lips.

Returning Troy's kiss, Gabriella murmured, "Good night, hun."

"Good night, sweetheart." Placing one last kiss onto Gabriella's cheek, Troy closed his eyes and allowed sleep to overtake him.

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><p><strong>Hey, guys! I thought some of you might be wondering about some of the kids' names, so I'll explain here:<strong>

**Yes, T.J.'s middle name (Jack) was chosen because of Troy's dad.**

**No, Gabe's full name (Gabriel) was not chosen because of Gabriella. I actually don't like the name Gabriel, but I LOVE the name Gabe and since it was so hard to find a middle name that went with just Gabe, I made his full name Gabriel, but throughout the story, he'll only be referred to as Gabe 99% of the time.**

**Yes, Eli's middle name was chosen because of Troy's middle name. After I picked out the name Juliet Anne, which actually wasn't because of Gabriella's middle name (see next paragraph), I decided that one of the boys should have Troy's middle name because Juliet had Gabriella's.**

**No, Juliet's middle name isn't Anne because of Gabriella. I just love the name Juliet Anne:)**

**Also, you might be wondering about the whole idea of this story, so here's an explanation for that as well:**

**Yes, the idea of this story was from the show **_**19 Kids and Counting.**_** I don't watch that on a regular basis, but one time I was bored and I watched it and then that's how I got the idea for a story about Troyella having lots of kids. No, I'm not going to copy the TV show exactly, as you could probably tell from this chapter. The only idea I got from that was Troyella having a large amount of children. No copyright of **_**19 Kids and Counting**_** is intended (for anyone who's in the mood to report fanfics for random reasons). **

**And for additional info, I don't intend this story to lack Troyella moments. I promise that the Troyella fluff will still be there just as much as it is in my other stories:)**

**Anyway, thanks for reading! Please press the button below and tell me what you think!**


	2. Craziness

Friday night at eleven-thirty, Gabe snuck out of his room, taking care not to wake his brothers. The entire Bolton household, save himself, of course, was asleep, and he knew that Shane's party would last until at least two in the morning. Creeping down the stairs, he ran a hand through his hair and adjusted the black jacket he was wearing. He then slipped out the front door and began the walk to his friend's house.

"Gabe!" Courtney shrieked as she saw her date walk through the door. "I've been waiting for you!" She yanked him into the middle of the room and shoved a beer can into his hand before taking one for herself.

Gabe eagerly opened the can and rapidly drank the contents of it. He then reached for another one. Once finished with that, he walked over to Shane, who appeared to be drunk. "Hey, dude, got any cigarettes?" he inquired.

"Yeah. They're on the table," Shane slurred.

Hurrying over to the dining room table, Gabe located a cigarette. After lighting it, he brought it to his mouth and blew while standing with his feet crossed and one hand placed on the wall.

"Hey, Gabe!" shouted Courtney. "Let's go! There's still bedrooms available!"

Gabe quickly finished off his cigarette and threw it carelessly into the ash tray that was beside him. He then followed Courtney upstairs and into Shane's bedroom, where he locked the door.

"Just to tell you, I'm not a virgin, so don't think you have to go all fucking easy on me," Courtney told Gabe. "I can't stand when guys think they have to be gentle. I like rough sex." She licked her lips.

"Well, you're in luck, cause so do I." Gabe tore Courtney's tight black dress off. "Now, get ready for the best damn night of your life."

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><p>Two hours later, Gabe put his clothes back on and left the room, abandoning Courtney, who was asleep in Shane's bed. He knew what his parents would say if they found out that he was having sex, and just the very thought of their words made him laugh aloud. When Troy and Gabriella had told their children about sex, they had encouraged them to wait until marriage. They didn't even think it was right to touch one another in a sexual way or see each other naked before the wedding rings were on their fingers. <em>Maybe that's why my fucking parents had so many damn kids, <em>he said to himself. _They were so fed up with being fucking prude that when they finally got to have fun, they couldn't stop. I don't see how it was fun for Dad to only have sex with one girl in his entire life, but I guess he's just so damn old-fashioned to think._

"Dude! What up?" Dave, one of Gabe's friends, asked as he stumbled over to him. Clearly, he had had too many drinks that night.

Glancing at the clock on the living room wall, Gabe replied, "I was just grabbing a quick cigarette and another beer before going home."

"Why go home?" Dave spoke.

"Two words: lame parents," came Gabe's answer as he rolled his brown eyes. "They don't understand the meaning of fun." Walking over to the table, he took a cigarette between his fingers and lit it. Once he was done, he tossed it into the ash tray and headed into the kitchen, where he grabbed a can of cold beer from the refrigerator.

"Gabe!" Sasha, one of Courtney's friends, shouted, her heels clicking on the floor, as she rushed over to Gabe. "Do you have fifteen minutes?"

"Yeah, sure," shrugged Gabe.

"Great! I just checked and there's a bedroom open, so what do you say?"

Immediately putting his beer down, Gabe allowed Sasha to take his hand and pull him upstairs and into a bedroom. _Wow, two in one night!_ he thought. _This is fucking wonderful!_

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><p>The next morning, Gabe walked through the doors of the Bolton house to see Troy and Gabriella sitting at the table with cups of coffee and French toast, Troy in his suit and tie and Gabriella still in pajamas. Evidentially, they were having breakfast together before Troy had to leave for work.<p>

Upon hearing the front door quietly creak open, Troy and Gabriella turned their heads.

"You went to that party, didn't you, Gabe?" Gabriella spoke.

"Uh...no...I just went out for an early morning run," Gabe lied.

"Gabe, don't lie to us," Troy told his son. "I can smell cigarette smoke and beer. You were at that party your mom was telling me you wanted to go to the other day." His voice was stern. "Go to your room. You're grounded for the rest of the month. No TV, no internet, no video games, no texting, no phone calls, no going out with friends, and, especially, no parties."

"But Dad-"

"No 'buts.' Give me your phone, then get up those stairs and into your room."

"My phone? Dad, no!" exclaimed Gabe.

"No texting or phone calls while you're grounded." Troy repeated while holding out his hand.

Reluctantly, Gabe snatched his phone from his pocket, slammed it into Troy's hand, then stomped upstairs. "I hate you, Dad!" he shouted before disappearing into his room.

"I'm sure he doesn't mean that," Gabriella quickly comforted as she grabbed one of Troy's hands and laid her cheek on his shoulder, knowing that even if he didn't show it, he was somewhat hurt by his son's words.

Wrapping an arm around Gabriella, Troy pressed a kiss into her hair before glancing over at the clock. "I gotta get going," he announced with a sigh. He rose from his seat, took both his and Gabriella's plates, forks, and coffee cups into the kitchen, then headed toward the front door, where he waited for his wife. When she approached him, he took both her hands in his and leaned in to kiss her lips. "I love you," he smiled.

"I love you, too," Gabriella returned.

Troy placed a hand on Gabriella's stomach, where a small baby bump was beginning to form. "You have your appointment this morning, right?"

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah."

"Who's watching the kids?"

"Well, T.J. and Juliet agreed to keep an eye on the younger ones. Eli would, too, but he's going to be in and out since he'll be taking Daniel to baseball. It's not a major appointment today, it's just to talk about how I'm feeling and stuff, so it shouldn't take too long."

"I wish I could go with you. I promise that I will next time, though."

"Sounds good," came Gabriella's response.

"Alright, well I gotta get going. Love you." Troy gave Gabriella another kiss.

"Love you," said Gabriella with a smile.

* * *

><p>Later that day, Gabriella stepped into the house after her doctor's appointment to see nothing but chaos. Juliet was in the middle of the living room holding Jordyn, who was crying, T.J. was talking to an angry Colby, Karina was sitting in a chair chatting on the phone, and Carly was standing in a corner, her arms crossed over her chest and a pout on her face.<p>

"Mom, you're here! Thank goodness!" Juliet exclaimed.

"What's going on?" asked Gabriella.

"Carly and Colby wanted to watch a movie and they were fighting over which one, then while T.J. and I were trying to work out the problem, we asked Karina to keep an eye on Jordyn since soon after you left, she threw up, so I didn't want to leave her alone for even a minute, and all she did was sit there talking on the phone. Then, Jordyn walked up to her and she yelled at her to go away, so Jordyn started crying."

Without even taking a minute to set her purse down, Gabriella took her youngest daughter from Juliet. "Did she only throw up once?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Well, I'll take care of her now. You should go start getting ready for the art program. Dad's gonna be home in an hour."

"You don't need any more help?" Juliet checked.

"No, I don't think so. I have T.J., and Eli should be back with Daniel soon, so they can help. And Gabe...he didn't leave the house at all, did he?" Suddenly, the events of early that morning flew back to Gabriella.

"I didn't see him," Juliet replied before heading upstairs and into one of the bathrooms that was in the house to shower.

"Gabe!" Gabriella called up the stairs. "Could you come down here and help with your brother and sister, please?"

A minute later, Gabe appeared at the bottom of the stairs. "I'm not taking Jordyn again," he announced immediately. "Taking care of babies...not my thing. Too much work."

Ignoring her son's remarks, Gabriella told him, "I need you to help T.J. with Colby and Carly. They're arguing right now. Jordyn threw up this morning, so I gotta go take her temperature."

At that moment, the door swung open and Troy walked in. "I got done earlier than I thought I would," he announced, walking up to Gabriella and kissing her on the lips. "How are you, sweetheart? Everything go okay at the doctor?"

Gabriella nodded, finally allowing her purse to fall off her arm and onto the end post of the stair rail. "Yeah, I'm perfectly fine."

"Daddy!" shouted Carly as she ran up to Troy and hugged him.

"Hey, honey," Troy greeted, embracing his daughter in return. "I didn't see you yet this morning." Smiling, he lifted her up and placed her on his shoulders.

"Juliet said that Jordyn threw up this morning while I was gone," said Gabriella, "So I was just about to go up and take her temperature."

"She threw up?" Troy repeated.

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah. And don't forget, you need to get yourself ready to go to the art program with Juliet. She's upstairs getting ready for it right now."

"Will you be okay if I leave?"

"I'll be fine. Eli will be home any second, so I'll have him, and T.J.'s here."

"Sweetie, Eli's going over to Abby's later for her birthday. He told me he was getting there around three and that they were hanging out with friends before he took her out for dinner. And T.J.'s going out with Sarah." Sarah was T.J.'s girlfriend.

Letting out a sigh, Gabriella said, "Well, I'll have Gabe...I know he's not too fond of helping with the younger ones, especially Jordyn, but he'll just have to deal with it. I mean, he's grounded, so what else is there for him to do? And anyway, you can't not go with Juliet after you told her you would. You haven't spent time with her in a while."

"Yeah." Troy placed Carly back onto the ground. "I mean, I really want to go with her, but I'm just worried about you, especially since you're pregnant and all."

"Hun, I take pregnancies really well. You know that. I only have a slight bit or morning sickness in the beginning every now and then and I get headaches every so often, but other than that, I'm perfectly fine," assured Gabriella. "Now I gotta go take Jordyn's temperature." She turned toward the staircase and, letting her hand touch the railing lightly, began climbing the stairs. Once in the upstairs hall, she turned left and entered one of the bathrooms. She then carefully set Jordyn down on the counter and, after digging through several drawers, pulled out an ear thermometer. Now, Gabriella was normally a very neat and organized person, but with nine kids, it was hard to keep every room in top shape at all times, so it wasn't uncommon to have to spend time searching for a specific item.

"You don't have a fever," murmured Gabriella, half to herself, a minute later when the thermometer beeped, indicating that it was finished reading her daughter's temperature. "Does your tummy hurt?" she queried in a louder tone as she pulled an alcohol wipe from the medicine cabinet and used it to disinfect the thermometer before putting it back in its place.

"No," said Jordyn, shaking her head back and forth swiftly and kicking her feet around restlessly.

"I think you must've just eaten something your tummy didn't like." Lifting her daughter into her arms again, Gabriella exited the bathroom, flipping the light switch off on her way out.

"Mom," Karina, who had finally gotten off the phone and gone up to her room, spoke.

"Yeah?" acknowledged Gabriella.

"When are you gonna take me to buy make-up?"

"Honey, you're only in fifth grade. You don't need make-up yet, and I don't want you wearing it. A little lip gloss is okay, but you don't need mascara and all that stuff yet."

"But Isabelle wears it!" Isabelle was Karina's best friend, and the most popular girl in fifth grade.

Gabriella suppressed a groan. She always tried to like all her children's friends, but she had never seemed to be able to like Isabelle. The few times Karina had insisted she sleep over, she had been awfully rude. She'd gotten sassy with both Troy and Gabriella, made messes she hadn't bothered to even try to clean up, and her general attitude proved that she lived under a roof that offered no discipline. She worshipped the dirty blonde curls that cascaded over her shoulders and stopped in the middle of her back and lived for tight, low cut tank tops that revealed more than what any ten year old girl should reveal, and shorts that barely covered her butt. In truth, she looked more like a high school junior trying to impress all the senior guys than an elementary school girl. Gabriella didn't understand how such a girl could have a name like Isabelle. In her mind, that was a name that should belong to someone such as the queen of England. "Sweetie, listen. You're still young. You don't need to worry about make-up, even if Isabelle's wearing it. You-"

"But Isabelle said that all the guys like when girls wear make-up," Karina interrupted.

"Honey, guys should be the furthest thing from your mind right now," Gabriella responded. "You're only in fifth grade. What would you even do with a boyfriend if you had one? At your age, he probably wouldn't be able to pay to take you to dinner or anything."

"But we could just hang out!"

"Rina," Gabriella started, using her daughter's nickname, "I don't want you hanging out with a boy. Unless he's just a friend and you're hanging out somewhere like at home where Dad and I can keep an eye on you, I don't want you to be with boys."

"But Isabelle-"

"Isabelle's parents have different rules," explained Gabriella.

Karina rolled her eyes. "I don't know why you have to be so strict," she remarked in a bitter tone as she stomped over to her door and slammed it shut.

"What's going on?" inquired Troy, who had just emerged from the master bedroom where he had been getting changed into shorts and a t-shirt.

Gabriella let out a deep sigh. "Karina wants to wear make-up and have a boyfriend," she explained.

"A boyfriend?" repeated Troy. "No way."

"I told her she couldn't have one."

"Good. I don't need all my little girls growing up faster than they already are." Troy leaned over to kiss Jordyn's forehead, then told Gabriella, "If Juliet's ready, we're gonna head out. See you in a couple hours." He connected his lips with hers. "Call if you need anything. I love you."

"Love you, too," returned Gabriella with a smile. "Have fun."

* * *

><p>As she walked through the doors of East High School with her father, Juliet caught sight of the pair of deep brown eyes she had been dreaming about ever since the beginning of the school year. Those eyes belonged to Jackson Baylor, the only son of her parent's friends Zeke and Sharpay Baylor. Every so often, Zeke and Sharpay would visit the Boltons and bring Jackson, who had made friends with Daniel after being on his baseball team while he was still in middle school, and their seven-year-old twin daughters, Myranda and Mia. Whenever they came over, Juliet made sure to make herself look extra nice, and a couple times she'd even had a short, somewhat awkward conversation with Jackson, but nothing more ever happened. In school, they would look at each other if they passed one another walking down the halls, but they never spoke there. However, Jackson hadn't shown any sign of being interested in dating someone else, so Juliet was inclined to think that he secretly liked her as well as she secretly liked him.<p>

"Hi, Juliet!" a girl with long, straight, dirty blonde hair that was parted neatly on the side and pinned out of her face with a hair clip greeted with a wave. She wore slim glasses with thick, black frames and light make-up. Her outfit of flare leg jeans, and white flip-flops was simple, yet attractive.

"Hey, Christina!" Juliet returned. Christina was her best friend, and had been since third grade.

"Hi, Mr. Bolton," Christina said when she reached Juliet.

"Hi," Troy spoke. Christina was one of the Bolton kids' friends that Troy and Gabriella particularly liked. She was always polite, always smiling, and, in general, a very good influence, unlike Shane and Isabelle. While it was custom for her to greet her friend's parents, part of the reason she did it was because she had a small crush on Daniel, who was actually the same age as her, and wanted to make sure she was nice to his family. She would've been in eighth grade along with him as well, but she had started kindergarten a year early, making her one grade ahead of the other kids her age.

"Did you see that Jackson was here?" Christina whispered in Juliet's ear. She was the only one that knew of the crush Juliet had on Jackson.

Juliet nodded with a light blush and a smile.

Letting out a sigh, Troy managed a small, bittersweet smile. He knew exactly what the look on his daughter's face meant. He had seen it on Gabriella's face several times throughout the time he had known her. Before he gathered enough courage to ask her out, he had caught her looking at him while talking to her friends with that expression on her face. When they first started dating in their sophomore year of high school, that look had crossed her face whenever he would give her a compliment or wrapped his arm around her waist to cuddle her. In their junior year when they had their first kiss, that look came upon her, and it had returned when he told her he loved her a few months later. The night he proposed to her, he saw it again. When they were newlyweds, that look had come over her again while they were experiencing what it was like to make love to each other for the first time. So from that, he could safely conclude that his daughter had a crush on someone. Instantly, he started to worry. What if she started dating, and the guy she was with hurt her? What if he didn't treat her right? What if, when she dated, she wasn't his little girl anymore?

* * *

><p><strong>What do you think? I know Juliet's not little, but Troy still thinks of all his girls as his little girls:) Please review!<strong>


	3. Alone Time

Gabriella smiled as she quickly finished applying lip gloss to finish off her look, which consisted of a dark gray Gucci dress-the only piece of designer clothing she owned-that just reached her knees, a pair of shiny black pumps with a large platform, and a silver necklace with a heart-shaped charm on it. From her ears dangled large hoop earrings that shined when the light hit them. Her hair was swept up into an elegant up-do, and her nails, although short, looked perfect with the silver polish that was neatly painted onto them. On her eyelids, she wore shimmery brown eye shadow and a little bit of black eyeliner. Her eyelashes were curled and painted with a thin coat of mascara. Dark blush that was just as visible as it needed to be was painted onto her high cheekbones, and powder that held a hint of sparkle in it was lightly brushed over her face.

She was going out with Troy that night.

After having to work Saturdays more weeks than he thought necessary, Troy had decided that, since his full weekend was finally free, he was going to take Gabriella out to a fancy restaurant, then spend the night with her at a hotel, where they would do "personal things" that they hadn't gotten the chance to do in at least a month. Gabriella's parents, David and Maria Montez, had agreed to stay overnight at the Bolton house and help with the young kids. They loved every one of their grandchildren and were always willing to help out with them, as were Troy's parents, Jack and Lucille.

Grabbing her clutch purse, Gabriella stepped out of the master bedroom and headed downstairs and into the living room, where Troy was sitting down with both Jordyn and Carly in his lap. At the sound of someone approaching, he turned his head and, when he saw that it was his wife, stared with his lips parted and his eyes wide. "Wow," he breathed, motioning for her to come over and sit beside him. "You look _gorgeous._"

Smiling, Gabriella eagerly took a seat next to Troy and rested her cheek on his shoulder, taking in the scent of the cologne he had put on for the evening. "Mmmm, Troy..." she murmured.

"Mommy!" Carly exclaimed. "You look really pretty!"

"Thank you, honey," Gabriella said, lifting her head and kissing her daughter's forehead.

"Mom, Dad, are you leaving now?" Juliet inquired as she came into the room, Daniel following close behind.

"As soon as Grandma and Grandpa get here," answered Gabriella.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

"And here they are now." Rising from her spot, Gabriella headed over to the front door and opened it. "Hi, Mom, Dad," she greeted, stepping aside so her parents could enter the house.

"Hi, Gabby," David smiled, giving his daughter a hug and a kiss on the cheek on his way inside. Gabriella had always been close to her father as a child, and her bond with him hadn't changed when she became an adult.

"Hi," Maria smiled, also hugging and kissing her daughter as she walked in.

"Grandpa!" Colby exclaimed, darting down the stairs and hurrying over to give David a hug.

A smile crossed Gabriella's face as she closed the door.

"Hey, buddy!" said David, ruffling Colby's dirty blonde hair while wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "What's new with you?"

"Grandma!" Carly hurried to where Maria was standing and, grabbing her wrist, pulled her over to the sofa and smacked one of the cushions until she sat down. Then, she climbed into her lap and told her, "I have a whole list of things I want you to do with me!"

"Alright, well, we're gonna get going now," Troy announced. Kissing Jordyn's forehead, he said, "Daddy has to go now. I'll see you in the morning."

"No," whimpered Jordyn, clinging to the jacket of Troy's suit. "Don't."

"Sweetie, you're gonna have fun with Grandma and Grandpa. Mommy and Daddy are gonna go out and spend some time with each other." Troy stroked his daughter's hair.

Gabriella walked over to where Troy and her daughter were and scooped Jordyn up into her arms. "We'll be back," she promised, touching her lips to the top of her head.

"Mommy, don't go!" Jordyn sobbed.

"I'll take her," Maria offered, holding out her arms.

"Go to Grandma," Gabriella spoke gently, handing the toddler to Maria.

"It's okay, sweetheart. Mommy and Daddy will be back before you know it. And guess what I brought? I brought some cookies. Do you want a cookie?"

Jordyn nodded.

"She's gonna be fine," concluded Gabriella, picking up her clutch, which she had temporarily abandoned to hold her daughter.

"Yeah," agreed Troy, standing up and encircling Gabriella's waist with one of his arms.

"Bye, Dad." Juliet made her way over to Troy and hugged him tightly. "I love you."

"I love you, too, honey," returned Troy, temporarily taking his arm away from Gabriella to embrace his daughter. When he was finished, he took his wife's hand and led her over to the front door. "Bye, everyone!"

"Bye!" echoed Gabriella. "Be good, kids! We'll be back tomorrow!"

Turning the doorknob, Troy guided Gabriella out onto the front porch, then into the driveway where the car was parked. After opening the passenger door for his wife and closing it behind her once she was comfortably seated, Troy climbed into the drivers' seat and pulled onto the road, more than ready to spend some alone time with her.

* * *

><p>"So," Gabriella began. She and Troy were sitting at a small table covered with a lacy tablecloth. In the center of the table sat a tall, fragrant candle that provided a warm glow in the dimly lit room. A waitress with her glossy hair neatly pulled back into a high curly ponytail had just gotten finished taking Troy and Gabriella's orders. "I've been thinking about baby names."<p>

"And which ones do you like?" Troy asked, reaching for his glass of ice water. If Gabriella wasn't pregnant, he would've ordered a bottle of wine for them to share, but since she was, he decided to just get ice water so he wouldn't feel guilty for drinking something she couldn't have in front of her.

"For a boy, I like Nathan and Levi and for a girl, I like Eliza and Alina."

"If it's a boy, we could do both names," said Troy after taking a moment to think. "Levi Nathan sounds pretty good, I think."

"I like that," smiled Gabriella. "But I'm not too sure about how the full name would sound: Levi Nathan Bolton. The middle and last names both have the same sound at the end."

"I think it sounds fine," shrugged Troy.

Gabriella deliberated for a moment. "What if we would go with Levi Nathaniel? Or Nathaniel Levi? We could call him Nate for short if we used Nathaniel or Nathan for the first name."

Troy made a face. "I don't really like Nate."

"Well, do you like Nathan, Nathaniel, or Levi? Or do you have a different name you had in mind for a boy?"

"Those names themselves are fine, it's just that I don't like the nickname Nate. And you know how bad I am with names, so no, I don't have any in mind at the moment." Troy reached across the table to take Gabriella's hand in his. After a moment of stroking her soft skin with this thumb in silence, he inquired, "When's your next doctor's appointment?"

"Tuesday," came Gabriella's reply. "And it's an ultra sound. Dr. Martin said that we'll probably be able to find out the baby's gender then." Dr. Julie Martin had been Gabriella's doctor ever since she'd gotten married. She had delivered all of the Bolton children and did all the appointments Gabriella had both when she was pregnant and not pregnant.

"Can I come with you?" Troy requested.

Gabriella smiled. "Of course. I always like you to be there when we find out if we're having a boy or a girl."

Bringing Gabriella's hand to his lips, Troy kissed her fingers. "So, what are you hoping for?"

"I don't care either way," shrugged Gabriella. "I love having boys and girls. I kind of think it's going to be a boy, though, because the last two babies were girls and that was the first time we had two girls in a row."

"Your soup," the waitress announced as she approached Troy and Gabriella's table holding two bowls of French onion soup, which was to be the appetizer for the main course. After setting the steaming food down, she asked, "Would you like me to get you anything else while you wait for your main course?"

Troy glanced at Gabriella, who shook her head. "No, thanks. We're good," he told the waitress.

"Alright. Well, I'll be back in about twenty minutes with your next course." She smiled a friendly smile before walking away.

Troy took his spoon and placed it in his soup, allowing the hot liquid to collect in it. He then held it out to Gabriella. "Eat this," he ordered gently.

Gabriella ate the offered food. "It's really good," she remarked, picking up her own spoon. After a few minutes of silence, she whispered, "I can't wait until we get to the hotel." After a month of not feeling Troy's hands touch her in places no one else had and experiencing the wonderful feeling of his body connecting with hers in the most intimate way, she was, to be blunt, desperate to have sex.

"I know." Winking, Troy nudged Gabriella's foot with his own underneath the table. "It's been too long since we've made love."

"Yeah," sighed Gabriella, a dreamy smile spreading across her face.

* * *

><p>When Troy and Gabriella were finished their meal, Troy paid for the food and led his wife out the door and into the car. He then drove the short distance to the hotel he had made reservations at. After grabbing the overnight bag he and Gabriella had put their necessities in, he took Gabriella's hand and together they walked through the automatic doors ad up to the front desk.<p>

"Good evening," the woman behind the desk greeted with a pleasant smile.

"Hi," returned Troy. "I made a reservation for a room under 'Bolton.'"

"Okay. Let me look in my files quick." The woman rose from the seat she was sitting on and made her way over to a counter that was against the wall behind the desk. She took a moment to search, then returned to her original spot with a key card. "Your room is number 305. Enjoy your stay."

"Thanks." Troy took the key card, then walked with Gabriella to their designated room. Before entering it, he set the sign on the doorknob to, "Do Not Disturb." Once inside, he tossed the overnight bag in the corner, locked the door, and abandoned the key card on the floor. Taking Gabriella in his arms, he started to kiss her passionately, his tongue tangling with hers and his teeth gently nibbling on her lower lip.

"Mmmm," moaned Gabriella through the kiss. "Troy..."

Troy, refusing to take his lips away from his wife's, guided her over to the king-sized bed that sat in the center of the room and very gently pushed her down on it. One of his hands traveled down to her thigh while the other rested dangerously low on her hip.

"Baby...dress off...please..." panted Gabriella after the kiss ended due to breathing becoming a problem.

Taking the hem of Gabriella's dress between his fingers, Troy carefully pulled it over her head. Placing his hand on her small, yet growing baby bump, he murmured, "I love you, Brie."

"I love you, too, Troy." Reaching up, Gabriella expertly unfastened the tie that was around Troy's neck and tossed it on the ground, his suit jacket, crisp white shirt, and dress pants soon following.

Kicking his shoes and socks off, Troy removed the heels Gabriella was wearing from her feet and kissed her bare toes. He then reached behind her and unclasped her bra to reveal her breasts, which had grown fuller as a result of being pregnant.

Gabriella pulled down Troy's boxers, immediately noticing that he was already hard. Resting a hand on his chest, she kissed his lips both passionately and lustfully.

"Oh, Brie," murmured Troy. His clumsy fingers found the top of Gabriella's underwear and took it off before breaking away from the kiss to bring his lips to her neck and suck on her sweet spot.

"Remember to be gentle with me tonight, honey," said Gabriella. "You don't want to hurt the baby."

"I will, sweetheart." Troy kissed Gabriella's forehead as his hand went to her stomach again. A few moments later, he asked, "Brie, did the baby just kick?" His eyes darted up to her face and he knew the answer before she even spoke by her huge smile.

"Yes, it did," she replied. "It's the first kick I've-no, _we've_-felt with this one." Gabriella was overwhelmed with happiness knowing that she and Troy had shared a special milestone of their unborn baby together. And, in her mind, it couldn't have happened at a better time.

"I love you," whispered Troy, his lips touching Gabriella's ear. "I love you more than anything."

And with that, Troy and Gabriella started to show their passion to each other in the most intimate way possible.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Troy and Gabriella showered together, then got ready and left the hotel. After eating breakfast at a nearby restaurant, Troy began to drive to what Gabriella assumed was their home until he made a turn that led them in a different direction.<p>

"Where are we going?" queried Gabriella.

"You'll see," came Troy's simple reply.

A few minutes later, Troy stopped the car in front of Zeke and Sharpay's house.

"Why are we here?" Gabriella questioned.

"You'll see." Troy smiled and winked at his wife before climbing out of the car and walking around to the passenger side to open the door for her. As soon as she got out, he took her hand in his and led her to the front door of the large house, then pressed the doorbell.

"Hi," Zeke greeted, opening the door. Myranda, one of the twins, stood beside him, expecting to see Carly with Troy and Gabriella. "Come on in." He stepped out of the doorway.

Upon entering the house, Troy and Gabriella were greeted with a group of Gabriella's friends who yelled, "Surprise!" Pink and blue balloons hung from the ceiling and a pile of gifts was on the large coffee table that was in the Baylor living room. On the wall, there was a banner that read, "Congratulations, Gabriella!"

For a second, Gabriella could do nothing but stand in shock. When she recovered from her surprise, she wrapped her arms around Troy and squeezed him tightly. "Another baby shower for me? Did you plan this?"

"I would love to say that I was clever enough to have thought of the idea, but no, I didn't. Sharpay came up with it. She thought that you deserved another baby shower since you're having your tenth baby," explained Troy, hugging Gabriella in return.

After she finished hugging Troy, Gabriella turned around and hugged Sharpay. "Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome," smiled Sharpay.

"So, how've you been feeling?" Taylor Danforth, who had been Gabriella's friend ever since third grade, inquired. Chad Danforth, her husband, was Troy's best friend that he'd known since preschool. Taylor had a dark complexion, thick, jet black hair that was cut an inch above her shoulders, and deep brown eyes.

"Pretty good, actually. I had some morning sickness for the first month, but after that, I haven't had any problems," answered Gabriella.

"Do you know what you're having yet?" queried Martha Cross, a friend Gabriella had met in high school. Her husband Jason was friends with Troy. She had always been the fun one out of Gabriella's group of friends, wearing her long curly hair in a ponytail and dressing in bold colors. She loved to dance and was always smiling.

Gabriella shook her head. "No, not yet. I should be finding out on Tuesday, though."

"What are you hoping it'll be?" Kelsi, who was married to Sharpay's twin brother Ryan, asked. Kelsi was a shy, sweet woman two years younger than Gabriella. She wore thick-framed glasses and had curly, shoulder-length hair.

"I don't care either way. I love boys and girls. I am kind of expecting it to be a boy, though, because my last two kids were girls and that was the first time I ever had two girls in a row," said Gabriella.

"I kind of want a boy next time. I mean, I love my girls, but it would be nice if we had another boy in the family besides Ryan." Kelsi had four girls: Bailey, Allison, Cassandra, and Anna.

"I've always kind of wanted a third baby so I had a chance at having a girl," Martha told her friends. She had two boys. James was fifteen years old and Dylan was twelve. "But I think it's a little late for that. I don't feel like going back to diapers." She laughed. "But I do love my boys."

"I don't want anymore," Taylor spoke. "Four is plenty." She had two boys, Joseph and Christopher, and two girls, Natalia and Hannah.

"I think this might be my last one," Gabriella remarked. "I mean, I love kids, but I don't know that I want to have more than ten."

"I can understand that," Sharpay laughed. "I think three is enough, though I wouldn't mind having just one more. But ten...ten would be _way_ too many for Zeke and I to handle. I don't know how you and Troy do it! And also, you're still in really good shape after being pregnant all these times! I don't know how you managed that, but you did a good job."

"I've gone up a size or two, Sharpay."

"Even so, you still look incredible for a woman that's given birth to nine kids. I gained so much weight from my twins, remember? It took me a year and a half to lose it all."

"Well, I have to work out to stay in shape, too," Gabriella pointed out. "I get a lot of exercise taking my youngest kids on walks and to the park and walking around the grocery store and the mall and everywhere else."

"Oh! Speaking of mall, wanna go there with me next weekend? You can bring your girls if you want, and even your boys, if they're interested. I know Jackson wouldn't be, but..."

"I'll see if I can. Daniel has a baseball game I'm going to and Carly has a rehearsal for her ballet performance, but if I can find time to go for a couple hours, I'll call you."

"Okay, sounds great! Now, how about we all go in the kitchen? Zeke made some cheese spread I bought crackers for, chocolate chip cookies, and peanut butter brownies." Sharpay turned toward Troy and Zeke, who were standing in the corner talking. "You guys can come, too, if you want."

The girls walked into the kitchen, Troy and Zeke following behind, still continuing to talk. After eating and chatting for a little while, Sharpay announced that it was time to go back into the living room so that Gabriella could open her gifts.

"Oh, Troy," Gabriella said as she took a seat on Sharpay's leather couch. "Can you call home and tell my parents that we won't be back for at least another hour? They're probably wondering where we are."

"No worries, sweetie," Troy assured. "I took care of that last night after you were asleep."

Gabriella smiled. "You really had everything planned out, didn't you?"

"Yup. I wanted it all to be perfect for you." Troy sat down beside his wife and, wrapping an arm around her waist, pulled her close to him and kissed her forehead.

"Awww!" all the girls squealed.

"You are so lucky to have a husband like Troy," Martha told her friend. "Jason isn't nowhere near as planned out and organized as Troy is."

"Ryan isn't exactly the most organized person, either. One time he took Bailey and Allison to ballet, but then decided to go grocery shopping and stop at the dance supply store to pick up some new tap shoes. I wasn't going to be home all evening, and he obviously didn't think of the fact that if he ran errands, no one would be able to pick up the girls. I got a call from Bailey at the time their class ended saying that Ryan wasn't there and they had no way home," Kelsi said.

"You think Jason and Ryan are bad? Well, you haven't seen Chad. He still doesn't know how to put his clothes in the hamper and when I ask him to take one of the kids somewhere, he seems to forget within ten minutes. I don't know how many football, baseball, and basketball games the boys have been late to." Taylor laughed.

"Troy's actually nowhere _near_ organized," Gabriella contradicted. "He just made sure he was for our date last night because he wanted everything to be perfect. As you can probably tell, we don't get out alone a lot."

"I can imagine," said Sharpay. "I think Zeke and I don't get out that often because of the kids, but for you and Troy, you must really not get out too much."

"No, we don't," Gabriella agreed.

"Alright, well, why don't you start opening presents now?" suggested Sharpay, handing Gabriella a large box wrapped in hot pink wrapping paper. "This one's from me. Well, one of the ones from me."

"Thank you," Gabriella smiled as she took the gift and began to rip the paper off, revealing a set of bedding just the right size for a crib. The sheets were a light green and the blanket that came with it was just a shade darker. A small stuffed dog was also included. "This is really nice, Shar! Thanks!"

"You're welcome. I was tempted to get pink bedding, but Zeke talked me out of it. He said that if your baby was a boy, he wouldn't appreciate having to sleep in a crib where he was surrounded by pink all the time."

Gabriella giggled as she grabbed another present off of Zeke and Sharpay's coffee table. By the way it was wrapped, it appeared to be another one from Sharpay. Opening it, she saw it was a set of three baby bottles along with a large container of formula. "Thank you so much! I really needed new bottles. I've had the same ones for my past three kids." Gabriella had chosen to bottle feed all of her children rather than breast feed. She felt that it was easier and besides, Troy and some of the kids, especially Juliet and Carly, were eager to help with the newest baby by feeding him or her.

"It's been that long?" Troy queried.

Gabriella nodded before selecting another gift. Before long, she had opened all the gifts her friends had gotten her. Besides the things Sharpay had given, she got a set of passafiers, a baby blanket, a pack of diapers, a changing pad, baby wipes, a baby book, and a teddy bear. "Thank you, everyone!" she said.

"You're welcome," all the girls responded.

"Oh, but wait! That's not it. Come into the garage." Grabbing her friend's arm, Sharpay practically pulled her into the garage, where a deluxe stroller sat.

"Thank you so much, Sharpay! You didn't have to get me something like this." Gabriella was smiling as she walked over to the stroller and touched the handle, then the cushioned seat. "This is really nice. You seriously didn't have to buy it for me."

"I wanted to," insisted Sharpay.

Troy, who had by this time come over, stepped into the garage and started looking at the stroller with Gabriella. "This _is_ a really nice stroller," he agreed. "Our new baby will love it."

After another few minutes, Troy, Gabriella, Sharpay, and the rest of the girls, who had also eventually come into the garage, walked back into the house. Gabriella talked with her friends for about forty-five minutes while Troy and Zeke went into the other room to watch a baseball game. It was after that time that the sound of Myranda and Mia arguing drifted down from upstairs.

Sharpay let out a sigh. "I'd better go see what's up with my daughters," she announced.

"Okay. Troy and I should probably get going when you come back," said Gabriella.

"Yeah, I should be going, too," Taylor agreed.

Once Sharpay settled the dispute between her children, Gabriella got Troy from the TV room, said bye to all her friends, then took all her gifts out to the car with her husband's help. When that task was completed, she thanked Sharpay for throwing the baby shower, then climbed into the passenger seat while Troy got behind the wheel.

"Thanks for an amazing weekend, baby," Gabriella said to Troy once they were on the road.

"No problem, Brie. No problem at all," smiled Troy. "You know I like having 'us' time just as much as you do."

Gabriella just nodded, love sparkling in her eyes and a wide smile on her face.

* * *

><p><strong>Alright, guys! I just want to say sorry for not updating my other story, <strong>_**High School Life**_** in a while. I promise you that I am working on that, it's just that I'm finding it hard to write because of all the Vanessa/Austin things I've been hearing lately:( The chapter of this story was less painful to write because after I kept hearing about Vanessa/Austin, I was on the baby shower part of this chapter so I didn't have to write too much romance. I will continue to try to work on my other story, though. Maybe looking at some Zanessa pics will help:) Also, please check out the poll on my page! It's about your favorite Bolton kid:)**

**Please review!**


	4. Baby Names

Monday, Gabe walked through the doors of East High, a wide smile on his face as all the popular kids-both guys and girls-greeted him. After giving the guys high-fives and hugging the girls, he began heading toward his homeroom, only to be stopped by Courtney.

"Gabe, we need to talk," the blonde girl said, using a tone that was more serious than she had ever used with anyone.

"Why, what's up, babe?" Gabe asked casually. He hadn't spoken to Courtney (other greeting her along with the other girls when he got to school each morning) since the night of Shane's party, which had been one and a half months ago.

"Come here." Courtney took Gabe's arm and dragged him into an empty classroom, then began to speak. "Remember when I was your date at Shane's party?"

Gabe laughed. "I'm not interested in a relationship, baby. You know I'm not that kind of guy."

"Gabe, it's not that," Courtney sighed, bringing her eyes to the ground. She wiped a tear from her cheek before bringing her face back up to look at the guy in front of her. "Please...please don't be angry with me...please Gabe...but...I...I..." She broke off, sobbing.

"You what?" demanded Gabe, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I...I'm...I'm...pregnant." Courtney whispered the last word.

"Well, how do you know it's my baby? I'm sure you slept with other guys that night-or at least since then."

"Gabe...I...I did sleep with another guy since then, but he...he used a condom. You didn't. I was a little drunk when we were having sex, and I noticed you didn't put on a condom, but I didn't care at the time." Courtney wiped the tears off her face with the back of her hand. "And now I'm having your baby."

"You're not getting an abortion?" Gabe blurted out, his hands folding up into tight fists.

"No...I...I want to keep my baby. I thought about it a lot for an entire week after I found out I was pregnant and decided that I want my baby. I was just hoping that, as the father, you would want a part in the baby's life, too, but I guess I was wrong." Courtney turned around and walked briskly out of the room, her head down and her face buried in her hands.

"Wait! Courtney!" Gabe ran after the girl. Catching her by the arm, he whispered, "Don't tell _anyone_ about this. I have two brothers and a sister that go to this school and if this news would get around to them, they would tell my parents and I would be grounded for life. You hear me?"

Courtney just nodded, then yanked herself free from Gabe and continued to hurry off in the direction of the bathroom.

Gabe leaned against the wall and allowed his face to fall into his palm, his heart racing with fear. What if Courtney didn't listen? What if she did end up telling someone that she was carrying his baby?

* * *

><p>Late on Tuesday afternoon, Troy and Gabriella walked into the hospital and, after checking in, sat down in the waiting room. It wasn't long before a nurse called Gabriella's name and led both her and Troy into the ultra sound room, where Dr. Martin was already waiting.<p>

"Hello, Gabriella. Hello, Troy," Dr. Martin greeted with a smile, removing her glasses and putting them in the pocket of her coat as she looked up from her paperwork. "Gabriella, you can go ahead and lie down on the table. Troy, if you want to pull up a chair and sit down, you can."

Gabriella walked over to the table that was in the middle of the room and laid down while Troy grabbed one of the chairs that was in the corner of the room.

"Alright. So, Gabriella, have you been having any problems since I saw you last? Anything you think I should know about?"

"Well, I felt the baby kick the other day," smiled Gabriella proudly.

"That's a good sign. As you probably already know from your other pregnancies, feeling the baby kick this early shows that it's strong and growing properly." Dr. Martin reached for a piece of paper and quickly scribbled down a note about the baby kicking, then said, "Okay, then. I think we're ready to start your ultra sound." She lifted up Gabriella's shirt a little bit so that her baby bump was showing, then put some gel on her stomach and began the procedure. "You want to know the gender, right?"

"Yes," replied Gabriella.

"Okay. Just give me a second and I should be able to tell you." After moving the tool used to perform the ultra sound to a few different places on Gabriella's stomach, she asked, "Do you want to take a guess at what it is?"

"I was thinking it would be a boy since our last two kids were girls," said Gabriella.

"Me, too," Troy agreed.

"And it looks like you're right." The doctor smiled.

Troy took Gabriella's hand in his and leaned in to give her a brief, yet meaningful, kiss on the lips.

"You don't think Carly will be too disappointed, do you?" Gabriella queried to Troy. The smile that had been on her face for nearly the entire visit stayed in its place, although her question was completely serious. Ever since Troy and Gabriella had told all the kids that Gabriella was having another baby, Carly had been telling everyone she was excited to have another little sister. So far, neither of her parents could find the strength to ruin her excitement by telling her that the baby could end up being a boy.

"She might be at first, but after the baby's born, I'm sure she'll be fine," said Troy.

"How old is Carly now?" Dr. Martin asked.

"Six," Gabriella answered.

"Six already? It feels like just last week that you were coming in to see me when you were pregnant with her. I remember you saying she was constantly kicking during the last two months."

"Yeah. And then with Jordyn, I only felt a kick maybe two times a day. She really didn't move around too much."

"And I remember you being all worried about that," Troy put in.

"You were worried, too, honey!" Gabriella exclaimed. "It seemed like every five minutes you would ask me if I felt the baby kick recently."

"Well, I have to be somewhat protective over my family," smiled Troy.

"Alright. Everything looks good! Your son seems to be very healthy and strong. Gabriella, I'll get you a paper towel so you can wipe some of that gel off yourself and then you can get going unless you have questions about anything."

"No, I think we're good," Gabriella spoke after glancing at Troy to see if he looked like he wanted to ask something.

"Okay, then." The doctor handed Gabriella a paper towel. "Well, you're done with ultra sounds until you enter your third trimester, which will be in two months, so your appointment next month will just be at my regular office."

"Okay. Sounds good." Gabriella cleaned herself up, then pulled her shirt back over her baby bump and slid off the table.

"Now, before you go, would you like to schedule your next appointment or would you rather call my office later?"

"We can schedule it now," decided Gabriella.

"Alright, then." Dr. Martin walked over to the counter that was in the room and pulled a day planner from her purse, which was thrown in the corner. "Let's see...I have an opening on May 15 at noon, on May 16 at 4:00 p.m., and on may 19 at 3:00 p.m."

Gabriella took a moment to think. "The one on May 15 would probably be best," she concluded finally.

"Okay, well, I'll see you then! Bye!"

"Bye," Troy and Gabriella both said at the same time before walking out of the room and heading toward the doors that led the way out of the hospital.

"So, I guess we'll have to start thinking of our final decision for a boy's name," Troy remarked once he and Gabriella were in the car.

"Yeah." Gabriella smiled. "I actually added a couple more to my list."

"Oh, really?" As he stopped the car at the edge of the hospital parking lot, Troy glanced over at his wife. "And what names did you add?"

"Mason and Jackson. I think I like Mason a little better than Jackson, though."

"Yeah, me, too. And the names we were talking about the other night were Nathan, Nathaniel, and Levi, right?"

"Mm-hm." Gabriella nodded despite the fact that Troy was watching the road ahead of him instead of looking at her. After a pause, she said, "I was actually thinking about letting the kids help us pick the name. Of course, they would have to choose from the options we have so they don't end up picking something really wild, but I think it would still be fun for them."

"That's a good idea, Brie," Troy complimented.

Gabriella smiled again. "Right now, I think the names I'll let them pick from are Nathan Levi, Levi Nathaniel, Mason Levi, Nathaniel Mason, Mason Nathaniel, and Jackson Nathaniel. What do you think?"

"They all sound good to me, just as long as we don't end up calling our son Nate as a nickname."

"Don't worry; I'll tell the kids that if they end up voting for Nathan or Nathaniel that you don't like Nate as a nickname, so we won't be calling the baby that," Gabriella assured.

"Thanks, baby girl."

* * *

><p>"Alright, kids," Gabriella began that evening after dinner was finished and the dishes were all cleaned up. The entire family was gathered in the living room, waiting to hear the announcement Gabriella was about to make. Well, most of them were. Gabe was busy texting his friends and Karina was looking at a selection of lip glosses that she had placed on her lap. "Now, as you know, I went for my doctor's appointment today."<p>

"When's my new sister gonna be born?" asked Carly.

Troy, who was standing beside Gabriella, walked over to Carly and hugged her. "Honey, I really hate to disappoint you, but your baby sister isn't a baby sister," he spoke gently.

"You're having a baby brother instead," smiled Gabriella.

"A brother?" Carly tilted her head to one side as if she was contemplating the news.

"Yes!" Colby exclaimed, jumping from his seat. "We need another boy in the family. I have too many girly-girl sisters." He stuck his tongue out.

"Hey!" Carly shouted in protest, snapping out of her thoughts.

"Woah, settle down, you, too!" Troy said.

After the kids were calm once more, Gabriella went on. "Now, Dad and I talked about this and we decided that we're going to let you-all of you-vote on a name for your new brother. Now, I'm going to give you the options now, but you don't need to give me your answer tonight if you're not ready to. You have a little while yet to think it over."

Suddenly, Gabe was jerked out of his own little world. _Picking a baby name..._ he thought to himself. _I could be doing this for my own child. I wonder if Courtney's having a boy or a girl? Hm..._ However, he quickly focused his mind on texting again. The last thing he wanted was to have second thoughts on being a part of his baby's life. He was sixteen for crying out loud! He had a life to live! Why would he want a baby to hold him back?

"Gabe, are you okay?" Gabriella, who had noticed the brief look of regret on her son's face, inquired.

"I'm fine," Gabe snapped.

Gabriella shot Troy a look that said "something's bothering him." Troy simply nodded and mouthed the words, "We'll talk about it later."

"Alright, well, anyway, the name options Dad and I have for you to pick from are Nathan Levi, Levi Nathaniel, Mason Levi, Nathaniel Mason, Mason Nathaniel, and Jackson Nathaniel."

"I like Mason," Carly decided immediately.

"Mason? That's a dumb name!" Colby protested. "His name should be Superman!"

The family-excluding Gabe and Karina-laughed.

"I don't think we're going to name him Superman, buddy," Gabriella told Colby.

"Awww." Colby sank back down into his space on the couch and crossed his arms over his chest in disappointment.

_What would Mom and Dad say if I told them that my new brother will be an uncle to a baby only a few months younger than him?_ Gabe felt a feeling of dread wash over him as he considered the outcome and again, struggled to push all images of his child out of his head. _I can't worry about a baby,_ he told himself._ I just need to pretend this never happened. If I don't tell and Courtney keeps quiet, no one will ever know, and I can just go on being a teenager and having the time of my life._ The self-comfort Gabe was giving himself wasn't working. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to get rid of the fact that he was going to be a father, whether anyone else knew or not. _Oh, why did I let myself get into this mess?_

* * *

><p><strong>Merry Christmas everyone! I know this chapter was shorter than normal for this story, but please give me a Christmas present and review anyway! And also, please tell me which name you like best in your review! I think I have my mind made up on one, but I'm just curious to see which one you guys like. Thanks for reading:):):)<strong>


	5. Easter

"So, how are we working out everything tomorrow?" Gabriella asked Troy once all the kids were either asleep or doing a quiet activity in their room. A week and a half had gone by, and it was now the day before Easter. Jack and Lucille had invited over Troy, Gabriella, their kids, and Gabriella's parents for Easter dinner, and Troy and Gabriella were still trying to work out things such as who would ride with who in the car.

"Well, I thought we would take my car to church and let Carly, Jordyn, and Juliet sit in the backseat. I would suggest we take Colby instead of Juliet, but he and Carly would just fight the whole time. And then T.J.'s taking his car and I think he said Colby and Daniel are going to ride with him. And then either Eli or Gabe is driving Eli's car and bringing Karina with them." Eli had saved up his money since he was thirteen, so he, unlike Gabe, had gotten his own car just a week after he'd received his license.

"Or we can let Juliet go with Eli, Gabe, and Karina," Gabriella suggested. "It might be a little crowded with Jordyn's car seat."

"Yeah. Speaking of which, I think when she turns three, we should switch her to a booster seat. That is, if you agree."

"I think we should, too. I don't think she really needs to big car seat anymore."

"Oh, Brie, that reminds me-her birthday's in two weeks," Troy said.

Gabriella let out a groan. "Oh, crap," she muttered. "I'm such a bad mother. I totally forgot to plan a party or anything. I haven't even gotten her a present yet." She pulled back the covers of the bed she and Troy shared and laid down. "I can't believe this. The father is the one that's supposed to forget those things, not the mother."

"It's okay," Troy assured, getting under the blankets with Gabriella. "You're just stressed. Carly's been having extra ballet rehearsals, T.J.'s graduation is coming up in about a month, we've both been worrying about Gabe for the past week and a half, and on top of all that, you're pregnant." Troy and Gabriella had both noticed the change in Gabe's behavior that had occurred since he'd heard from Courtney that he was going to be a father. He'd gotten quieter, stopped being as social with his large group of friends, and a couple days he had even seemed to be acting depressed.

"I know, but my daughter's birthday! What kind of mother forgets her daughter's own birthday?" Gabriella wiped a tear from her eye as she slid closer to Troy and cuddled against his chest. "I can't believe this!"

"It's okay," comforted Troy, wrapping his arms around his wife's waist and kissing her forehead. He was used to Gabriella getting emotional while pregnant, so he knew just how to handle it.

"B-But I'm supposed to remember these things!"

"Shhh. Baby girl, look at me." Troy took one of his hands and, placing it underneath Gabriella's chin, turned her face toward his. "It's okay. Like I said before, you have a lot going on. This is perfectly understandable." He leaned in to kiss her lips.

"Troy, why? Why did I ever think we could have this many kids? I-I don't think I can do it anymore. I'll have to hire someone to come help out with things. I-I just can't do this." Shaking her head, Gabriella pulled her chin away from Troy's hand and buried her face into his shoulder.

"Brie, you don't have to do that. Call your mom or either of my parents. They'll come over anytime you need them to and help out with anything." Gabriella's father was the only one of Troy and Gabriella's parents that still worked. Maria, Jack, and Lucille had all retired, leaving them free all day. "Or even call one of your friends. I'm sure they would come help. You can do this. T.J.'s almost eighteen. We've been raising kids for almost eighteen years. And another thing: I know I work more than I would like to sometimes, but don't forget that I'm always here for you, too. I'm actually trying to get my hours cut back now so I can be home for a little bit of extra time every night."

"B-But I should be able to do this. I-I shouldn't have to constantly rely on other people to help me. You need to work. You need to provide money for the family, but I'm stopping you from that because now you feel like you need to be home to help me."

"You're not stopping me from anything. I'm _choosing_ to try to be home more often."

Gabriella didn't respond. Instead, she just let her tears soak the fabric of Troy's shirt.

"It's okay," Troy soothed, running his fingers through Gabriella's hair. "It's okay."

"J-Just hold me, please," Gabriella said, struggling to force herself to stop crying.

"I will, Brie. And I'll never let go."

* * *

><p>Sunday afternoon after the Easter church service was over, the Bolton family all separated to go into their different cars, then started heading over to Jack and Lucille's house, which was only a few minutes away. After arriving there at approximately the same time, Troy, Gabriella, and their kids walked up to the door, where Carly pushed the doorbell.<p>

"Wait! I wanted to do that!" Colby complained, pushing his sister out of the way and slamming his entire hand onto the doorbell.

"Colby!" Gabriella scolded, grabbing her son's arm and pulling him away from the door.

"Hi," greeted Lucille with a smile as she opened the door. "Come on in!" She stepped aside to let her son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren walk through the doorway, giving each of them a hug as they did so. Once they were inside, she closed the door.

"Hey!" Jack called as he came into the room. "Is anyone hungry?"

"I'm _starving,_" Colby replied.

"Well, we have a bunch of food in the kitchen that's almost ready," said Jack.

"Oh! The pies!" exclaimed Gabriella. She had made two cherry and two blueberry pies for dessert, which were still sitting in the refrigerator at the Bolton house.

"It's okay, Brie," Troy assured immediately, placing a hand on his wife's shoulder. "I'll quick go home and get them. I'll be back in about twenty minutes." He handed Jordyn, who he had been holding, to Gabriella, then pulled the car keys from his pocket and hurried out the door.

After Jordyn and Carly were entertained with coloring books and the boys were busy watching TV, Gabriella, Juliet, Karina, and Lucille took seats in the living room, Karina immediately pulling lip gloss from the purse she had with her.

"So, did you find out what you're having?" Lucille asked Gabriella with a smile.

"Yeah, but I'm going to wait to say until my parents get here and Troy comes back," came Gabriella's response.

"You can't tell me ahead of time?" teased Lucille.

"No, I'm afraid I can't," Gabriella laughed.

Just then, the doorbell sounded.

"That's probably your parents, Gabriella," Lucille remarked, standing up and walking over to the door. Opening it, she greeted David and Maria as they came inside.

Gabriella rose from her seat and went over to her parents. "Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad," she said, hugging each of them.

"Hi, Gabriella," smiled Maria.

"Hi," said David.

After greeting Juliet and Karina, David went into the kitchen to find Jack while Maria sat down in the living room beside her daughter.

"So, Jack's cooking dinner?" Maria asked Lucille.

"Kind of. I got everything started. He's just sitting in there waiting for the timer to go off and probably eating some of the cookies I made for dessert." Lucille laughed.

"Well, at least that's something. I don't think I could ever get David to cook." Maria paused before turning toward Gabriella. "Is Troy in the kitchen, too?"

"No, he actually had to go back home to get the pies that I left in the refrigerator. You know how I always manage to forget something." Gabriella sighed. "He should be back soon, though."

"What kind of pie did you make?"

"I made two cherry and two blueberry."

"That sounds good. I made my brownies, which Dad just took into the kitchen." Everyone loved Maria Montez's homemade brownies, especially Troy.

"I'm going to tell everyone what my baby's gender is during dinner," Gabriella announced.

"Great! I've been waiting to hear that!" Maria exclaimed.

"Mommy," Carly began as she appeared from around the corner where she and Jordyn were coloring. "I'm really hungry."

"Well, you're gonna have to wait, honey," Gabriella told her daughter. "It won't be much longer."

"Carly, I have some snack mix. Do you want a little bit of that while you wait for dinner?" Lucille inquired. She enjoyed spoiling her grandchildren.

"You don't have to give her anything," insisted Gabriella. "She had a big breakfast this morning. She can wait until dinner's done to eat."

"I'll have some snack mix," Carly spoke in response to her grandmother's offer.

"No, Carly," said Gabriella firmly. "Dinner will be ready soon. You need to wait."

"But Grandma said I could have some."

"I know, but Mommy's saying that you need to wait."

Carly crossed her arms over her chest, a pout crossing over her face. "But I want to eat now!"

"Carly Victoria," said Gabriella firmly. "Come over here and sit down next to me. You don't act like this."

"But I wanna color again!"

"Well, you're not acting the way you're supposed to, so now you need to sit down with me until dinner's ready. If you're good before and during dinner, then you can go color again."

Without another word, Carly slowly walked over to Gabriella and took the seat next to her.

_Ding-dong!_

"That's probably Troy," Lucille observed. "Let me go let him in."

"Alright, Brie, I got the pies," Troy said as he entered the house. Then, turning to his mother, he asked, "Where do you want me to put them?"

"You can put them in the refrigerator," Lucille answered.

"Okay." Troy headed toward the kitchen, emerging just a minute later with Jack and David.

"Everything's ready," Jack announced.

"I'll come help you put it on the table." Lucille started to make her way into the kitchen.

"I'll get the rest of the kids," Gabriella spoke, standing up and walking over to where Jordyn was sitting with a large basket of crayons and a coloring book. "Could you put the crayons away for now, please? It's time to eat, sweetie."

Jordyn looked up at Gabriella. "I wanna finish my picture, Mommy."

"You can finish it when you're done eating. Now I need you to clean up the crayons and come to the table."

"No."

"You don't tell me 'no,'" Gabriella scolded. "You need to listen to me, and I'm asking you to put the crayons away and come to the table."

"I don't wanna."

"Do I need to get Daddy?"

"No."

"Alright, well, then, start cleaning up while I get your brothers. I'll be back in a couple minutes and when I come back, I want to see you picking the crayons up. And if you're not doing that, then I'm getting Daddy." With that, Gabriella left to tell her sons it was dinnertime. When she returned to Jordyn, she saw that crayons were still all over the floor and that her daughter hadn't stopped coloring. "Jordyn Kayla, I'm very disappointed in you. You disobeyed me and now I'm gonna have to get Daddy."

"No!" Jordyn started to cry. "No! Mommy!"

Ignoring Jordyn's protests, Gabriella walked into the dining toom, where Troy was already seated. "Honey," she started. "I need you to go talk to Jordyn. I asked her to put away the crayons she was using and come eat dinner, and she refused."

"Okay." Troy stood up. Going over to where his parents kept the coloring supplies, he said, "Jordyn, I need you to listen. You have to put away the crayons and come to dinner."

"No, Daddy."

"Well, if you're not going to obey, you'll need to go in time out after we're done eating. I'm gonna give you ten seconds, now, and if you don't start cleaning up by the time I count to ten, you're going to be sitting in time out instead of coloring after dinner. Do you hear me?"

"I don't wanna, Daddy!"

"One, two, three..." Troy began, making sure to count slowly.

"No! No! I don't wanna!"

"...four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten."

"No! Daddy!" Standing up, Jordyn stomped her feet.

Troy picked up his daughter and, bringing her over to the table, said, "Now because you didn't listen, after dinner you'll need to sit in time out."

"She didn't listen?" guessed Gabriella when she saw her daughter.

Troy shook his head.

"Okay, well, she can't be crying like this at the table. I'll go take her in the living room and sit with her until she calms down."

"But Brie, you'll miss part of dinner," Troy protested. "I'll go."

"No, Troy. You stay here. I'll go."

"How about I go?" Lucille suggested, rising from her seat and holding out her arms to take her granddaughter.

"No, Mom, you've already had to do this with me when I was little. You shouldn't have to do it again."

"Oh, I don't mind," insisted Lucille.

Troy glanced at Gabriella, who shook her head. "I'm going," she spoke firmly, taking Jordyn from Troy and carrying her into the living room, where she sat her down on the sofa before sitting next to her. After giving her a few minutes to calm down, she asked, "Are you ready to be good and sit at the table for dinner with everyone else?"

Jordyn didn't look at Gabriella.

"Jordyn, honey, look at Mommy, please."

The little girl brought her face to Gabriella's.

"Now, when we go eat, I don't want any more crying, okay?"

Jordyn didn't say anything.

"Alright, well, let's go eat," Gabriella spoke, standing up and holding out her hand for her daughter to take.

"Is everything good now?" Troy queried.

Nodding, Gabriella slid into her seat and rested her cheek on Troy's shoulder.

"You okay, sweetheart?" whispered Troy.

"Just tired," murmured Gabriella.

"I know, it's been a long day so far," Troy sympathized.

"What's going on with you two?" Jack demanded in a teasing tone.

"Nothing, Dad. Just talking." Troy smiled innocently.

"You know, you're acting like a teenager again," laughed Lucille. "I remember all this from years ago. And speaking of my own son, Gabriella, don't you have something to tell us about your baby?"

A smile crossed Gabriella's face as she lifted her head.

"Quiet, everyone!" David called out, silencing the coversation of the kids.

The room grew silent.

"So, I found out the gender of our baby." Gabriella linked her fingers with Troy's.

"And?" Maria prompted.

"And we're having another boy."

Everyone excluding Gabe, Karina, and the three youngest Bolton kids clapped. Jack, Lucille, David, and Maria offered their congratulations to Gabriella.

"So, how have you been feeling, Gabby?" Maria inquired.

"Pretty good, actually. I made it through the first trimester with only a week or two of morning sickness and I haven't been horribly tired, either."

"That's good."

The talk of the newest Bolton child lasted for a few more minutes, then drifted off into conversations about other things that were happening in the family. When dinner was over, Gabriella and Maria helped Lucille clean up while Troy went to put Jordyn in time out and Jack and David spent time with their grandchildren.

"Sharpay threw a surprise baby shower for me since I'm having my tenth baby," Gabriella told Maria and Lucille.

"That was nice of her," remarked Maria. "When you were in high school, she always seemed kind of snobby to me, but I can see that she turned out to be a very sweet person."

"She still has her high school moments sometimes," laughed Gabriella. "But being with Zeke definitely has changed her for the better."

"Zeke's always been a good guy," Lucille commented. "I remember him coming over here to hang out with Troy sometimes and he was always really polite and respectful. A _lot_ better than Chad."

"Well, Chad can be...I don't know what the word is," Gabriella said with a laugh.

"Don't get me wrong, though. Chad was actually fun to have around. He basically lived here when Troy was in school."

"Yeah, Troy's told me horror stories about Chad coming over when he wasn't wanted. He said that one time he showed up at eleven o' clock at night."

"Eleven o' clock?" exclaimed Maria. "That's way too late."

Lucille sighed. "Yes, I remember that. It was the day before midterms of Troy's freshman year and he'd gone to bed early so he would be well-rested and then just as I was turning out lights in the kitchen, I heard the doorbell and it was Chad. I told him Troy was in bed and he left, but apparently he decided to bother him by texting instead because the next morning, Troy told Jack and I that he had to silence his phone because Chad kept bothering him in the middle of the night."

"Yeah, Troy hates to be bothered when he's sleeping," Gabriella spoke. "I remember when I felt myself just starting to go into labor with Daniel it was one in the morning and I kept trying to wake Troy up. I was shaking him and telling him, 'The baby's coming. I have to get to the hospital.' And at first, he kept telling me, 'Wait until morning.' I don't think he really realized what was going on then, but later, when I got him fully awake, he went into a panic and called you to come and watch the kids. While you were on your way over, he was shoving extra clothes and stuff into bags for me and then the second you got here, he jumped into the car and took me to the hospital."

"Does he still do that when you tell him it's time for the baby to be born?" Lucille asked.

"Yeah. I'm glad he's concerned about me and the baby, but sometimes I think he panics a little too much." Gabriella laughed. "But he's a great husband."

Just then, Troy entered the room. "Hey, Mom, could I talk to you for a minute?" he requested.

"Sure." Lucille placed the plate that was in her hand inside the dishwasher, then followed her son to the hall that was just below the stairs leading to the second story of the house.

"Gabriella's really stressed out," Troy began. "The other night she told me she didn't think she could be a mother to nine-well, almost ten-kids anymore. With her being pregnant and all, it's really getting to be too much for her."

Lucille nodded to show she was listening.

"Then I suggested that she ask you, Dad, or Maria to come over to help when she feels she can't handle things alone anymore and I'm at work. But she just kept insisting that she didn't want to rely on other people for something she should be able to do herself. So anyway, the reason I'm telling you this is that I thought maybe you could offer to come over once or twice a week to help. That is, if you want to. I don't want to make you feel like you have to do it. But if you do, it might be easier for Gabriella to accept help if it's being offered."

"I'd be happy to help out," Lucille smiled.

"Thanks so much, Mom. I really appreciate it."

"No problem, Troy. You know how I love my grandchildren. Seeing them a little more often would be great! I'll go talk to Gabriella about it now."

"Okay. And thanks again." With those words, Troy walked off to where Jordyn was sitting in time out.

* * *

><p>That night, when Gabriella pulled the bed covers to her chin, she cuddled close to Troy and asked, "Did you talk to your mom about helping out here sometimes? Just asking because right after she came back from talking to you, she offered to come over Mondays and Thursdays to help me with things."<p>

Troy let out an inaudiable groan. "I knew I couldn't keep this a secret from you," he sighed. "And I'm sorry if you're mad at me. But I just want you to know that I did this because I love you and I don't want you to be stressed. Stress isn't good for you or the baby." He gently rubbed Gabriella's stomach.

"I'm not mad, Troy. I actually wanted to thank you. I really do need help sometimes, and you know how I can be kind of stubborn, so you found a way to give me help that I would accept." Gabriella smiled.

"I'm glad you feel that way, Brie." Troy wrapped both his arms around his wife and hugged her. "Now, try to sleep."

"I don't think I can."

"Why not?"

"The baby's kicking."

Instantly, Troy moved one of his hands to Gabriella's baby bump to feel the movement of his son. "This never stops amazing me, Brie," he whispered as he kissed her lips.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I still think it's amazing that we can make babies just by showing our love for each other." A smile spread across Troy's face.

"I love you, Troy," murmured Gabriella after a pause.

"I love you, too, Brie."

After giving each other a very passionate kiss, Troy and Gabriella both fell fast asleep snuggled in each other's arms.

* * *

><p><strong>I finally updated! I have a horrible coldcough which made me miss 3 days of school (I am NOT happy about that. One day was fine, but three is just ridiculous.) So in the time I was home, I wrote this chapter:) And also, I have a question for you guys. I know not all of the kids are really major characters in this story. The ones that are mentioned most, I think, are Gabe, Jordyn, and Juliet. So I was just wondering which of the other kids you would be most interested in seeing more about because I would like to include more about one of the other kids in my next chapter, but I'm not sure which one. I'll make a poll, so you can go vote on there, or you can leave your answer in a review. Thanks!**


	6. Revealing the News

The first person Gabe noticed when he walked through the doors of East High the Tuesday after Easter, which was the first day back at school for the Albuquerque School District after spring break, was Courtney. She looked a mess. She was wearing a pair of black sweat pants, a loose t-shirt that read "EHS" on it, and Converses. Her blonde hair was for once not stick straight and perfect. Instead, it was in a loose messy bun that seemed to be ready to come undone at any second. Her nail polish was chipped and...was she actually not wearing any make-up?

"Gabe," she said seriously as she approached one of the most popular guys in the school before all the cheerleaders and basketball players could run over and smother him in loud greetings.

"What?" Gabe acknowledged, feeling uneasiness stab him. He still wasn't used to the fact that he had gotten a girl pregnant.

"My parents found out I was pregnant and they...they kicked me out of the house yesterday. So I hope you're happy." Courtney wiped a tear from her eye. "I...I had to sleep in my car last night and I haven't eaten anything since breakfast yesterday." She started to cry harder. "So I...I just hope you're happy, you selfish bastard."

Sympathy that Gabe didn't even know he had in him overtook his body. Wrapping his arms around Courtney's waist, he hugged her close to him. Surprisingly, she didn't resist his touch. "You know what?" he began. "I...I'm not happy." _Am I actually saying this?_ "Courtney, I...I'm sorry, and I..." He broke off.

"And you what?" prompted Courtney.

Gabe became aware of some students starting to stare. "You know what, could we talk later? Like maybe after school or something?"

"I know this is just a trick. You're trying to get rid of me, aren't you?"

"No!" Gabe protested. "I'm not. I was actually thinking that you could come home with me and I could talk to my parents about the...uh...situation we're in. Maybe they'll let you stay with us."

"Don't tell them I'm pregnant," Courtney warned in a whisper, fear collecting in her eyes as she dug her fingernails into Gabe's arm.

"I'm gonna have to. It's most likely the only way I'll be able to get them to say you can stay with us for a while."

"But-"

"They'll understand. They won't be mad." _Or at least I hope they won't be._ Although Gabe sounded as if he were looking at the situation in a positive light, in reality, his heart was beating rapidly in fear of how Troy and Gabriella would react when he told them the news.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, of course I am," lied Gabe with a shrug.

"Okay, then." Courtney spoke with a nod after a long pause. It was at that moment that she felt a surge of morning sickness sweep over her. "Uh...I have to go." With that, she rushed off in the direction of the bathroom.

_What have I done?_ thought Gabe.

* * *

><p>As soon as Troy returned home from work that evening, Gabe slowly approached him and said, "Dad, I need to talk to you right away. Mom, too."<p>

"About what?" Troy queried, curious.

"Just...something. Something that's been bothering me."

"Okay. Mom's probably in the kitchen cooking dinner. I'll go get her and then we can go up to my room."

"Okay." Gabe's palms began to feel sweaty as he hesitantly made his way over to the staircase.

After putting Juliet in charge of the cooking food and letting the little ones greet Troy, Troy and Gabriella walked over to their son and followed him up the steps and into their bedroom. Gabriella shut the door behind them.

"You...uh...you might wanna sit down." Gabe suggested.

Troy and Gabriella took a seat on their bed, Troy instinctively taking Gabriella's hand in his and lacing their fingers together.

"I...I just wanted to tell you that...that...uh..." Gabe attempted, his brown eyes fixed on the ground beneath him.

Neither Troy nor Gabriella tried to urge their son to get out what he was struggling to say. Instead, they just waited patiently.

"I...I got a girl pregnant, alright?" Gabe shouted unable to hold in his secret any longer. His head was now lifted, his hands were clenched into fists, and his breathing was heavy.

Gabriella struggled to hold in a gasp as her eyes widened in shock. She attempted to say something, but couldn't.

"Gabriel Christian Bolton," Troy, who was surprised, yet able to speak, spoke sternly, yet kindly. "Was it a one night stand?"

"Yes," Gabe admitted.

"Son, I'm very disappointed in you. You know how your mom and I feel about sex outside of marriage, especially one night stands. There's a reason why we discourage you kids from that."

Gabe didn't respond.

"And why weren't you using protection? If you're going to have sex at your age, you need to at the least use protection."

"I...I was drunk," Gabe admitted.

"So you were drinking illegally? Was this when you snuck out to that party a little while back?"

Gabe nodded.

Just then, Gabriella got over her shock and, her emotions raging inside of her from her pregnancy, flung her arms about Troy's neck, buried her face in his shoulder, and began to sob.

Troy embraced Gabriella in return and kissed the top of her head before turning his attention back to Gabe. "Now listen, I'm not at all happy with what you did, but I will support you through this and help you in whatever ways I can, and I'm sure Mom will, too."

"Thanks, Dad." Gabe went up to his parents and hugged both of them for the first time in years. When he pulled away, he hesitated for a bit and then said, "Actually, I kind of need some help now. Courtney-the girl I got pregnant-her parents kicked her out of the house when they found out and today I kind of brought her home..."

"Where is she?" Troy asked.

"In the garage." The Boltons had two garages-one that they used to park cars in, and another that held things they no longer used anymore. Gabe had told Courtney to hide in the one with the things they no longer used.

"Why is she out there? Tell her to come in! If any of your siblings ask why she's here, you can either tell them the truth or, if you're not ready for that yet, you can say that she's just a friend that's visiting. Either way, I suggest telling the younger ones she's a friend. Mom and I will handle explaining everything to them later in a simple way."

"Okay." Gabe paused. "Well, I'll go bring Courtney inside." Almost mechanically, he headed toward the door of his parents' room and placed his hand on the doorknob.

"Oh, and Gabe?"

"Yeah, Dad?"

"You're grounded for a month. No hanging out with friends, no parties, and no, you're not going to the spring dance next week."

Gabe thought about protesting, but, considering Troy was already disappointed in him, decided against it and exited the room without a word.

"Brie, sweetheart, it's okay," Troy comforted after his son left. "Look at me."

Gabriella lifted her tear-stained face to Troy's.

Troy kissed Gabriella's nose. "Baby girl, it's okay."

"I was right about myself. I _am_ a bad mother. I let my son go off and get a girl pregnant."

"No, you didn't. You tried to stop him from going to parties that involved drinking. So did I. We did our best. But this time, everything we could do just wasn't enough. Sweetheart, everything that's planned out for our lives-and our kids' lives-happens, and there's nothing we can do to make it any different. And also, everything happens for a reason. We don't know what that reason is, but there's a reason."

"I know," Gabriella sniffled. "I guess it's just hard for me to get used to the fact that this is happening."

"I understand. It's hard for me, too. But there's nothing we can do to stop it."

Silence settled over the room.

"Brie, I don't know if you heard or not, but the girl that's having Gabe's baby is at our house right now. Her parents kicked her out when they found out she ws pregnant. Gabe had her hiding out in the garage, but he's bringing her in now."

Instantly, Gabriella's motherly instincts washed over her. "Poor girl," she murmured. "To be rejected by your own parents? That must be awful..."

"Yeah," agreed Troy.

"I think I'll go down and meet her." After squeezing Troy tightly one more time, Gabriella descended the stairs and made her way into the living room, where Courtney was sitting on the couch with Gabe.

"Hi, I'm Mrs. Bolton, but you can call me Gabriella," introduced Gabriella with a smile. "I don't care if you're formal or not. And you are?"

"Courtney Laker," Courtney replied in a monotone voice.

"It's nice to meet you, Courtney." Gabriella paused for a couple seconds before going on. "Gabe explained your situation to Troy-my husband-and I, and we thought that if you wanted to, you could stay here for a while."

Suddenly, Courtney started to cry. "I'm sorry! I...I don't want to have to do this. You have enough people in your family already...you don't need me here. I mean...my...my parents kicked me out for a reason...you don't want a slut in your house."

"Oh, honey," Gabriella took a seat beside Courtney and hugged her as she would hug her own daughters. "Don't say that about yourself. We want you here. You're more than welcome to stay at our house for as long as you need to."

"But...but you don't want me here, trust me. I'm...I'm pregnant, and when I have my baby, if I'm still here, you'll have to hear a crying baby all night."

"That's not a problem," Gabriella assured. "In fact, I'm actually four months pregnant with another son, so we'll have two babies in the house at once." She smiled. "And believe me, we've been through that before when I had Gabe and his twin brother Eli, so it won't be a problem at all. To be honest with you, I actually like having lots of kids in the house."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive." Gabriella smiled as she let go of Courtney. "And if you have any questions about anything, you can ask me. I've been through almost everything you come across in pregnancy. But for extra help, you should make an appointment with a gynocologist. If you want, I could give you the number for the doctor I go to. She's really nice and has been a great help with all my kids so far."

"Thanks." Courtney managed to smile through her tears.

"No problem. Now, are you hungry? My daughter's keeping an eye on dinner, which is probably done by now. Let me go look."

"Mommy!" Carly called as she entered the room. "I'm hungry!"

"Well, I'm going to check on dinner now, sweetie," Gabriella told her daughter. "You can sit down at the table awhile if you want to."

"Okay!" Eagerly, Carly rushed into the dining room and slid into her seat.

Upon stepping into the kitchen, Gabriella discovered that the food had finished cooking a few minutes ago. However, Juliet had kept the pork chops warm in the oven and the stuffing and peas warm on the stove.

"Thank you so much, Juliet," Gabriella said. "Now, could you go tell everyone that dinner's ready while I get the food out to the table?"

"Sure," came Juliet's response. With that, she left the kitchen.

Quickly, Gabriella took the food to the dining room, set it down on the table, then grabbed an extra chair along with a plate, napkin, fork, and knife for Courtney. It wasn't long before everyone was in their seats with dinner on their plates.

"So, Courtney," Gabriella started, "This is our family. You already met me, and then this is Jordyn, my youngest, then Carly, Colby, T.J., Eli, Daniel, Karina, and you already know Gabe, and then there's Juliet and my husband Troy."

All the kids except for Karina greeted Courtney with a smile and a hello.

"We're more than happy to let you stay with us," Troy remarked. "After dinner, we'll pull out an air mattress for one of the girls and then you can sleep on a bed."

"I wanna sleep on the air mattress!" Carly exclaimed.

"Well, actually I was thinking we would let Courtney share a room with your older sisters," said Troy.

A look of disappointment crossed Carly's face.

"I'll let her have my bed," Juliet offered.

"Oh, you don't have to do that," Courtney insisted. "I can sleep on their air mattress."

"But you're our guest. You shouldn't have to," insisted Gabriella.

"Yeah," Juliet agreed. "And I don't mind giving my bed up for a while."

"You guys are so nice," Courtney smiled. "Thank you. You don't know how much how I appreciate all this. And don't worry-I'll try to find a job as soon as possible so I can start paying rent."

"Rent? You don't have to worry about rent," Gabriella insisted. "You can stay for free."

"But I feel bad not paying or anything."

"We have enough kids here already," Karina remarked bitterly. "One more seriously won't make a difference, even though Mom's having yet another baby soon." She rolled her eyes.

"Karina!" Gabriella scolded. "Be nice."

"Fine." Again, Karina rolled her eyes. Gabriella gave her a warning glance.

For the remaining time of dinner, everything went smoothly. Everyone-excluding Karina, that is-did their best to make Courtney feel welcome. Even Jordyn behaved perfectly. When the meal was over, Gabriella asked Karina to help her clear the table while Troy went to supervise Jordyn in the living room, where he was also to help Carly and Colby with homework, and the other kids went to their rooms to work on homework. Well, all except for Gabe, who decided to put in a movie for him and Courtney to watch up in the room he shared with Gabe and Daniel.

"So," Gabe began as he began to fast-forward through the previews. "Are you hoping to have a boy or a girl?"

"Well, I've always wanted a baby girl," Courtney admitted. "But a boy would be fun, too. What are you hoping for?"

"A boy," Gabe replied. "But if it's a girl, I'll still be happy. At first I didn't want any kids, but now I'm really starting to like the idea of being a dad. Of course, I kind of wish it would've happened a few years later, but..."

"I know," Courtney agreed.

Suddenly, Gabe stopped fast-forwarding and paused the screen right at the end of the previews. Looking at Courtney, he asked, "What would you think of being my girlfriend? I mean, I know neither of us are really into long term relationships, but I just thought I'd like to give it a shot. What about you?"

Courtney's hazel eyes lit up. "I'd love that," she smiled, wrapping her arms around Gabe's neck.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, so I know I said I would focus more on one of the other kids in this chapter, but when I started writing, I felt like getting the problem with Gabe partially worked out until I moved on to focusing on another kid for a couple chapters, if that makes any sense. So, anyway, I hope all this wasn't too much for one chapter, and sorry for the lack of Troyella:( But I promise that after Gabriella has her baby, Troyella will go to Hawaii for a week by themselves and there will be lots of cuteness:) But that won't be for a little while. But soon there will be more Troyella in my story <strong>_**High School Life,**_** so make sure you check that out! Please review!**


	7. Prom and a Hospital Trip

"So, Sarah's coming over around seven tonight," T.J. announced to Troy. It was a Saturday afternoon, and only hours remained between the current time and the time of the senior prom at East High.

"Okay," Troy, who was playing Uno was Colby, acknowledged. "What time does prom start, eight?"

"Yeah. I thought we would leave around seven-thirty, just to make sure we get to Lava Springs in time." Lava Springs was the most popular location for Albuquerque proms. Owned by Will and Laura Evans, Sharpay and Ryan's parents, that location was easy to make reservations at, and the stream that was on the property made it a beautiful place to host formal events.

"Sounds good. That way Mom and I will have half an hour to get pictures."

"Where are we doing pictures?"

Troy shrugged. "I don't know. You would have to ask Mom."

"Uno!" Colby shouted, proudly holding his final card up in the air.

"Okay." With that, T.J. began heading upstairs to make sure everything was ready for that night.

"Daddy," Carly began as she entered the room holding a brush and a hair tie. "Can you put my hair in a ponytail?"

"Daddy doesn't know how to do hair," said Troy. "I always mess something up. Why don't you go ask Mommy or Juliet?"

"But Mommy's getting ready to leave and Juliet's working on a school project."

"Mommy's leaving? Where's she going?"

Carly shrugged. "I don't know. But she's taking Gabe and Courtney with her."

"Oh," spoke Troy slowly as he nodded in understanding. He'd forgotten that Gabriella had made a doctor's appointment for Courtney and offered to go with her. After some thinking, Gabe had decided to go along as well.

"I win!" exclaimed Colby, slamming his last card down on the pile and holding his arms up in the air.

Troy pretended to be upset, causing his son to laugh. He then turned his attention back to Carly. "Well, I can try, but it probably won't look good. Why do you need it in a ponytail?"

"For ballet practice. Remember?"

Troy let out an inward groan. Carly's group was rehearsing their part in the spring performance from two-thirty to three. "Who's taking you?"

"Grandma Montez," came Carly's response.

"Wait, Grandma's taking you?"

Carly nodded. "That's what Mommy said. Why? Were you gonna take me?"

"I could." Troy held out his hand to take the hairbrush and from Carly.

Just then, the phone rang.

"Hold on, sweetheart." Standing up, Troy walked into the kitchen and, seeing that Eli's cell number was displayed on the caller ID, picked up the phone. "Hey, what's up?"

"Well, I'm at the emergency room with Daniel," Eli responded.

"What? Why?" Troy's tone was urgent.

"He hurt his leg sliding home from third base," explained Eli. "I was just standing by the bleachers hanging out with Brian for a little bit before I came home, and I saw it happen. They were practicing running the bases, and all of a sudden, I heard all this noise, so I looked over and the coach was helping Daniel up. Then he brought him over to me and said I should take him to the emergency room to get an x-ray as soon as possible."

Troy let out a sigh. "I'll be over soon, okay?"

"You don't have to come. I think we'll be okay by ourselves."

"Yeah, but if something's broken, the doctors are gonna want parental consent to put a cast on and stuff. And Mom's taking Courtney to the doctor's now, so-"

"Wait, is she seeing the doctor at the hospital?"

"No, just at the office. She's not getting an ultra sound or anything today."

"Okay. Well, I'll see you in a little bit, Dad. Bye."

"Who's on the phone?" inquired Gabriella in a whisper as she entered the room, Gabe and Courtney close behind. Her purse was slung over her shoulder and her car keys were in her hand, indicating that she was about to leave.

"Bye," Troy told his son before pressing to end the call. Setting the phone down, he looked at Gabriella and said, "That was Eli. Daniel's at the hospital."

"Why is he there? What happened?" Fear was evident in Gabriella's voice.

Troy ran a hand through his hair. "He hurt his leg at baseball practice and the coach thought he needed an x-ray."

"My poor baby," murmured Gabriella. "I have to see him."

"I thought you had to take Courtney to the doctor's."

"It's okay, Mrs. Bolton," Courtney interrupted. "Gabe can drive me. You should go see Daniel."

Turning around, Gabriella let out a deep sigh. "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive," assured Courtney.

"Alright, then. Here you go, Gabe." Gabriella handed her son the keys. "I'll take Dad's car. Be careful driving, though."

Ignoring his mother's warning, Gabe willingly took the keys and started toward the front door. Courtney followed him.

"Daddy!" shouted Carly from the living room. "Are you doing my hair or not? Grandma's gonna be here soon!" She ran to the window and, glancing out, saw Maria's car pull into the driveway. "Wait, she's here now! Daddy!"

"I'll do her hair," Gabriella said firmly before Troy could respond. "It won't take me that long. You let my mom in and then find your keys. Did you wanna come see Daniel, too? Oh, wait, never mind...someone has to watch Jordyn and the other kids are busy."

_Ding dong!_

"Grandma's at the door!" Carly yelled, dashing over to the door. Twisting the doorknob, she opened it.

Troy and Gabriella both hurried into the living room.

"Hi, Mom," greeted Gabriella as Maria stepped inside. She then turned her attention to Carly and told her, "Come here, honey. Let me quick do your hair."

Troy gave Maria a brief welcome before saying, "I'll go get the keys for you, okay?"

"Okay." Gabriella didn't even look up at her husband as she spoke, Instead, she just rapidly brushed through Carly's dirty blonde curls and pulled them back into a high ponytail, which she secured with a hair tie. "Alright, sweetie. There you go."

"Thanks, Mommy. Bye." Carly hugged Gabriella.

"Bye, Carly." Gabriella returned her daughter's embrace, then brought her eyes up to Maria. "Mom, Eli just called and Daniel's in the E.R. He hurt his leg in baseball practice. I'm gonna go see him as soon as Troy brings me the keys. As far as I know, Troy or at least one of the kids will be here when you bring Carly back, but if for some reason we all end up at the hospital, I'll call you."

"Did you just say Daniel was in the E.R.?"

Gabriella nodded.

"I hope he's okay," Maria remarked in a concerned tone. "Call and let me know later, alright?"

"I will," promised Gabriella.

Just then, Troy appeared, keys in his hand. "Here." He handed them to his wife, then kissed her lips. "I'll see you soon. Call me as soon as you find out how bad it is."

Gabriella nodded in acknowledgement, then went out the door after Maria and Carly. "Bye!" she called back.

"Bye, sweetheart," returned Troy.

* * *

><p>Upon walking into the emergency room, Gabriella instantly caught sight of Daniel and Eli. Daniel was seated on one chair with his injured leg held out straight across a second chair that was in front of him. Eli was beside him looking at his cell phone, most likely trying to figure out how much longer it would be until his brother got called back.<p>

"Still waiting?" Gabriella said as she approached her sons.

At the sound of Gabriella's voice, Eli lifted his head. "Yup," he replied. "We checked in about twenty minutes ago. I was hoping someone would've called him back by now." He paused to think for a moment. "Wait, I thought Dad was coming? I mean, not that I don't want you here, but..."

"He was, but then Gabe and Courtney decided they would be alright going to the doctor's by themselves and I was really worried about Daniel, so I came and left Dad to watch Jordyn," Gabriella explained. Then, turning her attention toward Daniel, she asked, "How much does it hurt?"

"A lot," moaned Daniel. "I feel like someone stuck a knife through me."

"Let me see." Gently, Gabriella rolled up the leg of Daniel's baseball pants, revealing a whole area of swollen, bruised skin on his lower leg. "You need to get at least ice on that," she remarked. "I can't believe they made you wait this long without giving you even that...or even some Tylenol."

"You don't...you don't think it's broken, do you?" Daniel brought his eyes up to his mother's.

Gabriella's heart broke at the look of sadness on her son's face. She knew he was worried about having to miss a quarter of the baseball season, which would happen if a bone was broken. "I hate to tell you this, but it doesn't look good." She shook her head slowly.

Daniel looked down at his lap and didn't utter another word.

Taking the vacant seat beside Daniel, Gabriella rummaged through her purse. "I thought I had a bottle of Tylenol in here," she said to herself. "But maybe I used it all up. Oh, why can't I have it at the time I need it the most? It always works this way."

"Catherine Hayes," a nurse who had just walked into the room called out.

"Well, that's not him," Eli muttered. Normally, he was a patient person, but at the moment, he was getting anxious for someone to help his brother.

"Let me go see if I can get an ice pack or something." Gabriella rose from her seat. "I'll be right back." Walking over to the check-in desk, she politely said, "Excuse me, but could I have some ice for my son? His leg is really bad and it seems like we're going to be waiting a while for it to be looked at."

"Do we look like we have time to do anything?" snapped the woman behind the desk. "There's about fifteen people waiting for a doctor, most of them who are worse off than your son. If it's just his leg and he wasn't taken back immediately, he'll live."

"But it looks like it could be broken," Gabriella pressed. "And he's in a lot of pain."

"Well, he'll just have to wait his turn, won't he? Now move out of the way. You're taking up time other people who need to actually check in for a real emergency could be using." The woman motioned for Gabriella to leave. Under her breath, she added, "Ugh, dealing with pregnant women is the worst."

_Well, that wasn't necessary,_ Gabriella thought to herself as she made her way back to Daniel and Eli. _The emergency room staff can be so cold toward people sometimes._

"They wouldn't give him anything?" guessed Eli.

"No. Apparently he's just supposed to suffer and wait his turn." Annoyance was heavy in Gabriella's tone.

"How much longer do you think it's gonna be?" Daniel mumbled, resting his forehead on the palm of his hand.

"I hope not much longer," sighed Gabriella. "Eli, how many people were in here when you first checked in?"

"Hmm...maybe about six?" Eli guessed. "I didn't pay much attention, though, because I was mostly worried about getting Daniel signed in. But I know that the man that's sitting across the room has been here since we came." He pointed to a middle-aged man who was sitting beside a woman that appeared to be his wife.

"I guess that's at least one person that's ahead of Daniel," Gabriella concluded. As soon as she finished speaking, her cell phone rang. "Oh, that's probably either Dad or Grandma." Picking up her purse, she pulled out her phone and, noting it was Troy, pressed to answer the call. "Hey, honey."

"Hey, baby girl. How's everything going? Did Daniel get his leg looked at yet?" Troy queried urgently.

"No. They won't even give us an ice pack for him to put on it while we're waiting. And this is the one time I don't have Tylenol with me, so I can't give him any of that..."

"How long has he been waiting?"

"Probably by now about half an hour to forty-five minutes. I understand that there's probably bigger emergencies, like people that were in car accidents and stuff, but I just wish they would at least give him some ice until they can take him back."

"Yeah, I think they should," agreed Troy.

"So, is everything going okay at home?"

"Well, Jordyn peed in her pants, but other than that, everything's fine." Troy and Gabriella had started potty training their youngest daughter two months ago and naturally, she had accidents sometimes.

"Well, she was wearing a Pull-Up, so it's not really that bad. Did you tell her to let you know next time she has to go?"

"Yeah," answered Troy.

"Okay. Make sure you ask her every so often. And watch for when she starts jumping around and stuff. That means she has to go."

"I know, sweetie. We've gone through this with eight other kids. I can handle it."

"I didn't think you couldn't, but I was just making sure. You know how I worry about the kids."

"Yeah." Troy paused. "Well, I'll let you go. Call me when something happens, unless I call you first. Love you."

"Love you, too. Bye."

"Bye."

Gabriella put her phone away, then said, "That was Dad. He was just wondering what was going on here."

"How much longer will it be?" Daniel muttered impatiently, ignoring his mother's statement.

"I don't know, buddy. I hope it'll be soon." Gabriella looked at the watch she was wearing. "It's almost three...and Sarah's coming over at seven so we can get some prom pictures with her and T.J. before they leave..." She let out an inward groan. _What a day._ "But if we're still here then, I'll just have to miss pictures." She really hated the thought of missing out on being there for the pictures of the first senior prom of any of her kids, but she knew that if Daniel was still in the hospital in a few hours, she would need to stay with him.

Daniel sighed. "Is there any way I could get a drink of water?"

"Yeah. I'll go to the vending machine in the lobby and get you a water bottle. Eli, do you want anything?"

"Could I have a bag of chips or something? I haven't eaten since breakfast," came Eli's response.

"Yeah, you can have that. Daniel, do you want any food or just water?" Gabriella began searching through her purse for her wallet, which had sunk to the bottom.

"Just water," Daniel replied.

"Okay. I'll be back in a few minutes. If they call you back in the meantime, I'll just ask for the room number they put you in and go see you there." Standing up, Gabriella exited the room and headed toward the lobby. After getting water for Daniel, chips for Eli, and a chocolate bar for herself (chocolate was one of the things she always seemed to have cravings for whist pregnant), she returned to her children. "Here you go." She handed each of them the item they had asked for, then sat down in her seat to wait for Daniel's name to be called.

* * *

><p>"Daniel Bolton," a nurse spoke.<p>

"Finally," Daniel muttered under his breath. An hour had passed since Gabriella had come back from the vending machine, making the total wait time nearly two hours. He struggled to stand up. However, he couldn't.

"Would you like me to bring in a wheelchair?" asked the nurse.

Gabriella thought for a second. "That might be best," she decided.

"Okay. I'll be back in a second." The nurse disappeared around the corner, then reappeared a minute later with a wheelchair. She and Gabriella helped Daniel into it, then she wheeled him to a room, where he got into the bed with minimum difficulty.

"Alright, Daniel. So first of all, my name is Miranda and I'll be your nurse. Now I'm just gonna take this paper bracelet and put it on your wrist-it just has your name and birthday and such-and then I'll get you some pain killers and ice to hold you over until the doctor can come in and have a look at you." Miranda put the bracelet on Daniel, then walked out of the room. Five minutes later, she came back with pills, a cup of water, and a large pack of ice wrapped in a towel. Placing the ice on Daniel's leg, and handed him the water and pills. "Here you go," she smiled.

Daniel eagerly swallowed the pills.

"So, could I get you anything else?"

Daniel shook his head.

"Okay." Miranda turned toward Gabriella. "And are you his mom?"

"Yes," Gabriella answered. "And this is his brother." She motioned toward Eli.

"Do you guys want me to bring in any chairs for you to sit in?"

"I'm okay," Gabriella replied. "What about you, Eli?"

"I can stand," shrugged Eli.

"You sure?" Miranda checked.

"Yeah," confirmed Gabriella.

"Okay. Well then I'll go and check to see if there's a doctor available. I know Dr. Walker was just finishing up with someone when I took Daniel back, so he might be free by now." Miranda left the room again. But this time when she returned, a tall man who looked about fifty and wore a white coat and glasses was with her.

"Hello. I'm Dr. Walker," the doctor greeted. "And this is...Daniel, correct?"

Daniel nodded.

"Okay, son, so..." Dr. Walker pulled a chair with wheels from the corner and, sitting down on it, slid over to the side of the bed. "I just have a couple quick questions for you and they we'll get you to the x-ray room." He grabbed a paper from the table that was normally used for patients to put their food on and, reaching into the pocket of his coat, took a pen between two of his fingers. "Alright, first of all, how did this happen?"

"I was sliding home in baseball practice and I kind of tripped as I was sliding and landed in an uncomfortable position. I tried to get up, but I couldn't."

"Okay. And where exactly does it hurt? Is it just on the part that I see is all bruised or is it your whole leg?"

"Just my lower leg...where the bruises are," came Daniel's response.

"Okay. Now just one more. On a scale of one to ten, how bad does it hurt?"

"I would say um...maybe a seven."

"Okay." Dr. Walker set his paper and pen down. "Now let's get you to the x-ray room. Miranda, could you help me get him back in the wheelchair?"

Quickly, Miranda made her way over to Daniel and took the ice pack off his leg. She then assisted the doctor in getting him into the wheelchair.

"He'll be back in about ten minutes," Dr. Walker told Gabriella. "You can just wait in here, or you can come in the waiting area for the x-ray room."

"We'll wait here," Gabriella decided. When Daniel was out of the room, she pulled her phone from her purse. "I'm gonna call Dad," she told Eli.

"Okay," Eli acknowledged.

Gabriella pushed to call home, then put the phone to her ear. "Hey," she greeted when she heard Troy pick up. "Daniel just got taken back for an x-ray now. Eli and I are waiting for him to come back."

"He just got taken? It's been two hours!" Troy exclaimed.

"I know," sighed Gabriella, pushing a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

"How much longer do you think you'll be?" inquired Troy.

"I don't know. It's hard to tell. It could probably be anywhere from another hour to another three hours."

"Do you want me to start dinner? It's after four and Colby's complaining that he's hungry."

"Don't bother making a whole dinner tonight," Gabriella said. "Just let the kids make sandwiches or something. I mean, Karina's at Isabelle's house, Eli and Daniel are both here with me, and T.J.'s gonna be busy getting ready for tonight."

"Okay."

"Or you can order a pizza or something if the kids would rather have that."

"Alright." Troy paused. "Do you think you'll be back in time to get pictures of T.J. and Sarah before they leave?"

"I hope so," came Gabriella's simple reply. "I really hope so. I'll call in a little bit to update you on what's going on. Oh, and did Carly get home from ballet practice and everything?"

"Yeah, and your mom's here helping me out now."

"Okay. Tell her I said thank you for that."

"I will. And I guess I'll hear from you sometime soon."

"Yeah," agreed Gabriella. "Love you."

"Love you, too, sweetheart. Bye."

"Bye." Gabriella hung up and put her phone back in her purse.

A little while later, Dr. Walker and brought Daniel back into the room. "Okay, so the bad news is his leg is broken. The good news is it's not as bad as it could be, but he'll still need a cast."

"Will you put that on now?" queried Gabriella.

"Yes," Dr. Walker answered. "I just need to step out for a minute and get the supplies I need and then I'll start on it right away." He turned around and disappeared through the doorway.

"Is your leg feeling any better after the medicine you took?" Gabriella asked Daniel.

"Slightly. It still hurts pretty much, though." Daniel paused. "I was really hoping it wasn't broken. That's the worse thing that could happen right now with baseball going on."

"I know," Gabriella responded sympathetically.

The room then grew silent until the doctor returned. "What color cast do you want?" he inquired, holding out the cardboard box of different colored wraps for the cast.

"Red," came Daniel's instant response. Even if he couldn't play baseball, he would still support the Leopards. That was the name of the middle school baseball team. All the middle schools in East Albuquerque School District had wildcat names for their teams. Then once it came to the high school, the team was just simply the Wildcats. However, all the schools in the district used red and white as their colors.

"Is that to go with your baseball colors?" Dr. Walker guessed, noting the red and white uniform Daniel was wearing. They hadn't bothered to make him put on a hospital gown because it would be too difficult with his injury and his pants could be rolled up above his knee to see the bruised area of his leg.

"Yeah."

As the doctor put Daniel's cast on, he talked to him about his baseball team. When he finished, he said, "Now I have some instructions for you." He turned to look at Gabriella. "And you can listen, too."

"Okay." Gabriella moved closer to her son and the doctor.

"This cast will be on for six weeks, and at the end of six weeks, you'll have to come back and get it taken off. I don't like the idea of people trying to take it off at home. It's just time consuming and since the bone is still sore then, you could actually hurt it getting the cast off yourself. So if you want, you can schedule an appointment for that today, or you can call in a couple weeks. But either way, you have to come in to get it off. And then also, you can't get the cast wet. When you shower, you'll have to put a plastic bag over it, and other than a shower, going in water is strongly discouraged."

"When can I go back to baseball?" Daniel asked urgently.

"In about two months. In addition to the six weeks of wearing the cast, you'll also need two more weeks to kind of get your leg used to movement again because you'll need to be on crutches from now until you get the cast off. Before you go, I'll grab you a pair and show you how to use them."

"Two months?" repeated Daniel.

"Look on the bright side. You'll be better long before the playoffs," Gabriella optimized.

"I know. It's just disappointing." Daniel sighed.

"I know it is," Dr. Walker interjected sympathetically. "But it's for the best. If you play baseball any sooner, you could get hurt even worse."

Daniel was silent.

"And the last piece of advice is to stay off the leg as much as possible. The crutches are for if you have to walk, but it would be best not to walk around when it's not necessary," Dr. Walker continued. "Now, are there any questions?"

"No," Daniel spoke.

"I don't think so," Gabriella answered.

"Okay. Well then, here's a paper with all the information I just told you, and now I'll go get some crutches and show Daniel how to use them." As the doctor spoke, he handed a sheet of paper to Gabriella before leaving the room.

"I'm gonna go out in the hall and call Dad quick," Gabriella announced. She put the paper in her purse and took her phone out, then stepped out the door.

"Hey," came Troy's voice through the speaker.

"Hey," returned Gabriella. "We're almost done. Daniel's leg was broken, so he just got a cast put on and now the doctor has to show him how to use crutches and then we'll be able to leave."

"That was quick," remarked Troy.

"Yeah, after he got taken back. The long part was sitting in the waiting room."

"That's what I hate about the E.R.," sighed Troy. When Gabe was younger, he had hurt his ankle playing basketball and it had seemed like it could've been broken, so Troy and Gabriella had taken him to the emergency room. It turned out he had only badly sprained it, but the time they had to wait for him to be called back had been incredibly long.

"I know." Gabriella paused. "Well, we'll be home soon. Love you."

"Love you, too. Bye."

"Bye." Gabriella put her phone away, then stepped back into Daniel's room to wait until he was ready to go.

* * *

><p>That evening, Troy and Gabriella stepped outside with T.J. and Sarah, a camera in Gabriella's hand. It was a little after seven, which left plenty of time for pictures before the two seniors had to leave for their prom.<p>

"Alright. Why don't you two go stand by that tree over there?" suggested Gabriella, pointing to the large oak tree that was in the front yard.

"Okay," T.J. responded. Taking Sarah's hand, he led her to the tree, then wrapped his arm around her waist and smiled.

"Aww, gorgeous," Gabriella remarked, snapping a photo. "Now, how about you face each other, hold hands, look at one another, and smile."

T.J. and Sarah did as Gabriella instructed.

"Perfect." Gabriella took in the scene for a minute. It was truly beautiful with Sarah's long, teal gown just brushing the grass beneath her and the way T.J. looked at her. Brushing a tear from her eye, she took a picture. About ten more were then taken before the time allowed for photographs was up.

"Alright. Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad. I'll see you later," T.J. said.

"Bye," Troy and Gabriella both returned. "Have fun." Troy then laced Gabriella's fingers with his and led her to the porch, where they watched T.J. back out of the driveway and pull out onto the road.

"My baby," breathed Gabriella, tears dripping down her cheeks. "I...I feel like it was just yesterday that I held him for the first time in the hospital. But now he's going to prom...and he's graduating high school soon..."

Embracing Gabriella, Troy pressed his lips to the top of her head. "I know. I know it's hard for you to let go. It's hard for me, too. But just think...when he graduates, we can say that we successfully raised one of our children...and we have nine more to go."

"I...I know. It's just that...everything's going by too fast. T.J.'s about to finish high school, Gabe's girlfriend is having our first grandchild...I feel so old." She smiled through her tears and looked up into Troy's eyes.

"Well think of it this way. You're not getting old alone. I'll be getting old with you. I remember when we first got engaged, we would talk about being with each other forever and growing old together...watching our kids and grandkids grow up..."

"I know...it's just that the part where our kids grow up is happening faster than I would like it to."

"I agree." Troy sighed. "I mean, after Eli and Gabe have their turn graduating next year, Juliet will be the next in line, and I can't see myself letting my first daughter go off to prom with some guy that could break her heart. And then when I have to walk her down the aisle and give her away at her wedding...I don't think I'm ready for that. I mean, not that I'm not upset about the boys growing up, I just feel more protective over my girls." He paused. "But we have to remember what my mom said at Christmas."

"You mean when she said that even though the kids are growing up, that doesn't change that they're our babies?"

Troy nodded.

"Yeah." Gabriella let out a deep sigh before looking over the horizon. "The sunset's beautiful," she murmured, studying the beautiful colors that were slowly moving away for the night.

"It is." Troy gazed into Gabriella's eyes. "Just like you."

Gabriella rested her cheek on Troy's shoulder. "I remember doing this when we were newlyweds...just watching the sunset together night after night..."

"Yeah." Troy let out a contented sigh. "And I also remember something else we used to do night after night." He winked.

"You mean...sex?"

Troy nodded. "Yeah."

Gabriella suppressed a moan at the sudden desire to make love to Troy. Being pregnant was certainly the worst thing for hormones. "You know, maybe we should have a newlywed night tonight."

"Yeah. We should." Troy smirked. "But after the kids go to bed."

* * *

><p><strong>So, I finally updated this! Yay! And if you guys didn't read the AN in my oneshot, I'll let you know again that I had to disable anonymous reviews for the time being (more info on my profile). And also, please check out my fanfic friend Zac is my. Life's new story **_**The Baseball Lovers**_**! I promise you'll love it:) And another thing: follow Zac on Twitter! His account will hopefully be verified soon, but it's been confirmed by a few different sites:) His name is ZacEfron. So please follow him! And follow me troyellaizlove. I also have a new YouTube account called alwaysawildcat14, so be sure to look at that and subscribe to me if you have a YouTube. And please review this chapter!**


	8. Dinnertime Desire

**Okay, just a quick warning...Troyella get kind of naughty in the beginning and end of the chapter. There's no actual M-rated scenes, though, but it can be considered high T.**

* * *

><p>"I don't know, what do you think?" Troy was asking. That day, a letter from <em>Parenting<em> magazine had come in the mail asking Troy and Gabriella if they would be interested in doing an interview for the magazine in which they would talk about how they managed a household of nine children, what their discipline methods were, and what a typical day in their household was like. In addition to that, they wanted some family pictures of the Boltons along with a cover shot of a few of the younger ones.

"I think it would be fun," Gabriella replied. "But when does it say it is?"

Troy looked at the letter that was in his hand. "July 26," he answered.

"That's only five weeks away from my due date," Gabriella said thoughtfully. "I don't know...I mean, none of the kids have ever been born more than two weeks early, but you never know...and I'll probably be a mess by then..."

"What do you mean you'll be a mess?"

"Well, towards the end, you know how my cravings get worse and I'm constantly uncomfortable and have to wear pajama pants or loose sweats all the time because of how big my baby bump is...especially with Eli and Gabe. And then I'm an emotional wreck at that point, too, and I'm kind of lazy...that's when I stop even making an effort to look decent. I just throw my hair back, wear my glasses, and forget about make-up."

"Yeah, but while you might be a mess, you sure are a hot one." Troy winked. "We always have lots of fun the last month before the baby comes, because you're just constantly turned on and all you want is sex all day, every day."

"Well, that's what happens," laughed Gabriella.

"I know. I remember that one time when...I think it was when you were pregnant with Daniel...you actually wore me out with all the sex you wanted. I remember we had four rounds, I was exhausted, and you were begging for more."

"And then I started crying because you fell asleep," finished Gabriella.

"And when I woke up the next morning, you started yelling at me for not giving you more. Of course it was hard to be mad at you back because you were naked right in front of me. I mean, you're sexy, you know." A smirk that showed he was thinking dirty thoughts spread across Troy's face. He then lowered his voice to a husky whisper. "And I like sexiness." He leaned it to capture Gabriella's lips in his own as his hands traveled beneath her shirt and up to her breasts. "I see you're not wearing a bra," he observed. "Very sexy...very, very sexy..."

"Troy, as much as I love this, the kids are in the other room, so I think we should save the naughtiness for bed," Gabriella told her husband, gently ending the kiss.

"Oh, fine." Troy rolled his eyes, pretending to be mad.

"And now, Eli's watching Jordyn, so if you want to help with dinner..."

"What are we having?"

"Since I'm getting a late start with this tonight, I think I'll just stick some frozen chicken nuggets and fries in the oven. But I would like to have a salad with it, so if you could start getting the nuggets on a tray-or you'll probably need two trays-I'll cut up some vegetables."

"Mommy!" Carly called from the living room. "Colby won't let me watch Disney Channel! He keeps saying he has to play video games!"

"Well, he can play video games now, but after dinner, it'll be your turn to use the TV. Okay?"

"Okay," Carly responded in an annoyed tone.

Troy walked to the freezer, then stopped to turn around and look at Gabriella. "If I help with dinner, does that mean we'll have sex tonight?"

"I would like to," answered Gabriella. "But for one, it's Friday, so the kids are probably gonna stay up late, and for two, we have to get Jordyn's presents wrapped. Her party's tomorrow, remember?"

"Yeah. But we could wrap the presents right after dinner and then get my parents to stay the night here while we go out to a hotel," suggested Troy.

Gabriella let out a sigh. "As much as I would love to do that, we can't always be leaving the kids for selfish reasons. I mean, we just had a date night not too long ago where we got a room somewhere for the night."

"But I want you..."

Gabriella suppressed a desirable groan. "I want you, too, but we're just gonna have to wait. Now, get the nuggets out of the freezer and start putting the on trays. We're gonna get complaints soon if we don't hurry up with dinner."

"Well, someone's bossy," smirked Troy. "Just the perfect mood to be in for steamy hot se-"

"Troy Alexander Bolton!" Gabriella playfully smacked Troy's arm. "The kids are in the other room! Now stop!" She reached into a cabinet and, pulling out two trays, handed them to Troy. "Here."

"What are these for?" The expression on Troy's face was clueless.

"The nuggets! Have you even been paying attention to what I've been talking about?"

"Oh...right." Ignoring the last part of what his wife said, Troy took the trays and grabbed the three bags of chicken nuggets that were sitting in the back of the freezer.

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "You know, you can be as bad as the kids sometimes when it comes to paying attention. Now, are you gonna get the fries out, too? I'll get you another tray for them." Taking a third tray from the cabinet, she placed it on the counter beside the other two. She then retrieved lettuce, cabbage, carrots, and celery fromthe refrigerator and removed the wooden cutting board from its hook on the wall. "Don't forget to pre-heat the oven," she reminded Troy.

"Okay." Troy glanced at the back of one of the bags of nuggets, then set the oven to the temperature it said to set it to.

"Karina!" called Gabriella, walking over to the edge of the kitchen. "Could you set the table, please?"

No response came.

"Karina!" Gabriella repeated.

Still no answer.

"Karina Allison Bolton!"

"I'm on the phone!" snapped Karina from upstairs.

"What phone?" questioned Gabriella. The only phone besides cell phones the Boltons had was downstairs.

"Juliet's," Karina replied.

"What?" Juliet, who was in the living room, interjected at the mention of her name. "Why are you using my phone, Rina?"

"I had to make a call!" Karina yelled.

"That's okay, but could you please ask me next time before you take it?" Juliet requested.

"I'll be right back, babe," said Gabriella to Troy before exiting the kitchen and ascending the stairs. Walking through the open doorway of the room her two oldest daughters shared, she asked, "Who were you calling on Juliet's phone?"

"No one important," mumbled Karina, her eyes cast toward the ground.

"Sweetie, who was it?" Gabriella pressed gently, sitting down on Karina's bed and motioning for her to come take the spot beside her. When she reluctantly did, she put an arm around her shoulders and hugged her.

"I told you. No one important." Karina jerked away from Gabriella.

"Well, it had to be someone of some importance if you were too busy with them to answer when I called you." Gabriella kept her tone even.

"It was just Lucas Davone," admitted Karina finally.

"Who's he?"

"A boy in my class."

Gabriella let out a sigh. "Honey, listen. I know you're in a hurry to grow up and be old enough to wear make-up and date and such, but you need to stay away from boys for a few more years. You're only in fifth grade, you don't need to be getting together with boys. I don't mind if you have a boy or two as a friend you like to just talk to in school, or even sometimes on the family phone, but when you have to use your sister's cell without her permission to call a boy...I don't like that, especially since you didn't tell me or Dad anything about it."

"T.J. dates. Gabe dates. Eli dates." Karina shrugged. "So what's the difference if I date?"

"They're older, Rina. When you're in high school, you'll be allowed to go out with boys, too. And even then, Dad and I will want to meet him to make sure he's okay for you to be with, just like we had to meet your brothers' girlfriends."

"But I won't be in high school until forever! I'm not even in middle school yet! It's not fair!" A slight whine could be detected in Karina's voice.

"Well, you're gonna have to wait, Karina." Here, Gabriella's tone grew firmer. "All your siblings had to wait, too."

"But Isabelle had her first kiss already! I don't want to be like that! I don't want to be old...like fourteen or fifteen...when I have _my_ first kiss!"

"Fourteen or fifteen isn't old," Gabriella pointed out. "I didn't have my first kiss until just after I turned seventeen in my junior year."

"Yeah, and then to make up for it, you spent years fucking Dad and running a baby factory," remarked Karina bitterly.

"Karina Allison Bolton! You don't talk like that! I don't even know where you heard that kind of talk from!" In her mind, she prayed that Gabe hadn't been the source of her knowledge of those words.

"That's what Isabelle told me one time! And it's true! All you do is sleep around and make babies! I mean, this is your tenth! Isabelle's an only child and look how better off she is than I am! She has her own room, she doesn't have to constantly keep toddlers company, she gets designer clothes and shoes and manicures-"

"You know, I don't want you hanging out with Isabelle anymore," Gabriella spoke firmly. "If she's telling you these things about Dad and I, I don't want you to be around her."

"But she's my best friend!" Karina protested.

"Well, I don't approve of your friendship with her. She's being disrespectful to Dad and I by telling you things like that and she's encouraging you to be disrespectful as well. You don't use those words and you don't talk to your parents that way. And you're grounded for two weeks."

"But Mom!"

"That's final. And by grounded I mean no hanging out with friends, no talking on the phone, no computer, no TV, and no iPod."

"What? That's so unfair! You can't do this to me!"

At that moment, Troy appeared in the doorway. "Is everything okay up here? I just got the nuggets and fries in the oven and you haven't come back down yet, Brie."

"Let's go to our room," came Gabriella's simple response. "Karina, please go down and set the table. Dinner will be ready soon."

Rolling her eyes, Karina stormed out of the room and stomped down the stairs.

"Let's go, sweetie." Going over to Gabriella, Troy took her hand and led her into the master bedroom, where he shut the door behind them. "Now, what's going on?"

"Well, Karina told me that to make up for not having my first kiss until seventeen, I 'spent years fucking you and running a baby factory.' Apparently Isabelle told her that about us."

"What? If that's the case, then I don't want her hanging out with that girl anymore. I mean, I wonder where Isabelle even got a saying like that in the first place. She's only ten years old-or possibly eleven. Where would a kid that age be hearing that from?"

"Well, the couple times I've talked to Isabelle's mom, I kind of got the impression that she would say stuff that was rude like that. And she knows how many kids we have, so maybe she said something like that around Isabelle and then Isabelle picked it up and said it to Karina. I don't know, but no matter what the case is, I don't want Karina hanging out with Isabelle anymore, either. I told her that. And I also told her that she's grounded for two weeks."

"Okay. But what was the phone call about? That couldn't have been something to do with her saying we were running a baby factory, could it have?"

"No. She was on the phone with a boy named Lucas. I forget what she said his last name was, but anyway, she thought he was going to be her boyfriend, but I told her she couldn't date until high school and that she couldn't be with this boy. I mean, if she wants to have a couple boys as friends that she talks to in school, that's fine, but I don't like her being all secretive about associating with boys outside of school. Then she said that Isabelle had her first kiss already and that she didn't want to be old when she had hers. That's when I told her I didn't have my first kiss until soon after I turned seventeen and she told me that to make up for it, I started a baby factory with you."

"But you said earlier she also used the f-word, right?"

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah, she did. But I just didn't want to repeat it again. And then she was hinting that she wanted to be an only child."

"Well, you did the right thing by grounding her. I mean, I always hate having to punish the kids, but sometimes we have to." Troy wrapped his arms around Gabriella's waist and pulled her close. A minute of silence settled over the room before he said, "I love you, Brie."

"I love you, too, Troy," Gabriella murmured in return. She then leaned in to share a passionate kiss with her husband.

"Mmm, Brie..." moaned Troy as he allowed his hands to roam beneath Gabriella's top. When they reached her breasts, he used two of his fingers to massage her nipples.

"Troy..." A frustrated groan escaped Gabriella's lips. She wanted Troy so bad, but salads still had to be made and the nuggets and fries were probably half done by that point. "Later." She gently pried Troy's hands away from her breasts.

"Promise?" Both love and lust were heavy in Troy's eyes, which melted with Gabriella's.

Gabriella let out a defeated sigh. That night wasn't exactly the best night for making love, but she couldn't seem to say no to Troy when he had that expression in his eyes. "Promise. Now, let's go back downstairs. I have salad to make."


	9. Jordyn's Birthday Party

Gabriella let out a sigh as she opened her eyes and glanced over at the clock. Seven-thirty. Although she had only slept for three hours in total that night because of the time she had spent making love to Troy and being kept awake by the baby kicking inside her stomach, she knew she still had to get up, get ready, and start preparing for Jordyn's party.

"Hey, beautiful," Troy greeted, kissing Gabriella on the lips.

"Hey." After giving her husband a kiss in return, Gabriella buried her face in his bare chest. "I don't wanna get up," she groaned.

Troy took a minute to stroke Gabriella's dark curls before saying, "Stay in bed, baby girl. I'll get up and help the little ones get breakfast and stuff and start cleaning things up for Jordyn's party. Okay?"

Normally, Gabriella would protest, but at that moment, she was too tired for that. "M-kay," she mumbled. Then, sitting up slowly, she asked, "Could you grab me some comfy clothes? If you're getting up, there's no point in laying here naked."

"Sure, hun." Sliding out of bed, Troy pulled on his boxers, then, running a hand through his hair, headed over to the closet, from which he pulled basketball shorts and a t-shirt for himself and a pair of sweat pants and a tank top for Gabriella. He tossed her things to her, then began getting dressed.

"Thanks," Gabriella said.

Once Troy and Gabriella were both fully clothed, he gave her another kiss, tucked her in, told her he loved her, then left the room. Descending the stairs, he thought, _I should make breakfast in bed for Brie...and of course stuff for the kids as well._ _But what should I make?_ He walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. Taking notice that there was a full carton of eggs on the top shelf, he grabbed it. _I'll make this,_ he decided.

"Mommy!" Carly called as she ran down the stairs. "I'm hungry!" She rushed into the kitchen. "What are you doing, Daddy?" she inquired when she saw that Troy had a large pan and a spatula out and was getting an egg out of the carton to crack it. "Where's Mommy?"

"Good morning, honey," Troy greeted, turning around to face his daughter. "Mommy's tired, so I'm letting her sleep in. I thought I would make scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast for everyone and that I would take Mommy's plate up to her so she can have breakfast in bed."

"Why is she tired?" Carly tilted her head to one side.

"She just had some trouble falling asleep last night, that's all. Sometimes when mommies are going to have babies, they have trouble sleeping."

"Oh. Is she gonna have the baby today?"

Troy couldn't help but smile. "No," he said, shaking his head. "Your little brother will be born near the end of the summer."

"When he's born do I get to hold him? I love holding babies."

"Yes, of course you'll get to hold him. Everyone will." Troy smiled again.

"I wanna be the first to hold him, though."

"Well, sweetie, I think Mommy and Daddy are gonna be the first to hold him. But you can hold him as soon as you come to visit Mommy in the hospital. Either Grandma and Grandpa Montez, Grandma and Grandpa Bolton, or one of your brothers will bring you."

"But why can't I go with you and Mommy?" Carly pressed.

"Only the daddy can be there when the baby's being born," Troy explained. "Brothers and sisters have to wait." He knew that Gabriella could have the whole family in the delivery room if she really wanted, but every time, she chose to have the birth of her baby be something special just between him and her.

"Why?"

"You are just full of questions today, aren't you?" Troy cracked another egg.

"But why, Daddy?" Carly persisted.

"Because that's just the way it is."

Carly paused before asking, "How are babies born?"

"Oh, honey, that's another topic for a much later day. You don't need to know right now."

"Do the doctors have to cut Mommy open?"

"Sometimes, yes, she does need surgery, but usually not." Gabriella had needed to have a c-section with Juliet and Colby. However, with all the other babies, even the twins, that hadn't been necessary, which Troy was grateful for. He didn't like having Gabriella under anesthesia one bit, especially when she was carrying their baby.

"Does it hurt?"

"No, Mommy's asleep during it, so she doesn't feel anything."

"Oh." Carly was silent for a minute. "How are babies even made, anyway?"

"You _are_ full of questions today!" Troy exclaimed. Taking the spatula, he stirred the eggs. "And that's not something you need to know now. Even if I did tell you, you wouldn't understand until you were older."

"Well, Karina said that you and Mommy are trying to make a baby when you go on vacation overnight and leave us home." Carly sounded proud to know that little piece of information.

_I'll have to talk to her about that. She shouldn't be telling the little ones things like that._ Aloud, Troy told Carly, "Why don't you go see if Jordyn's awake?"

"Okay," Carly agreed, immediately leaving the kitchen and hurrying upstairs. A few minutes later, she returned with Jordyn. "I woke her up!" she announced proudly.

"You didn't have to wake her up, Carly. I just asked you to see if she was awake yet. If she was still asleep, you could've let her sleep until breakfast was all finished."

"Can I get up Colby?" Carly was obviously ignoring her father's words.

"No. I already didn't want you to wake up Jordyn. Don't wake up anyone else." Troy put four slices of toast into the toaster and pulled a pack of bacon from the refrigerator. "Why don't you take Jordyn into the living room and turn on Disney Channel?" he suggested.

"Okay. Come on, Jordyn." Carly took her little sister's hand and led her into the living room, where she put the TV on.

"Are you making breakfast, Dad?" queried Daniel, limping into the kitchen on his crutches.

"Yup," came Troy's answer. "Do you need anything?"

"I was gonna get a glass of orange juice."

"I'll get it for you," offered Troy. "I don't want you moving around too much with your broken leg." He took a glass from one of the cabinets above the sink and poured juice into it, then carried it out to Daniel's seat at the table. "You can sit down awhile. Breakfast should be ready in about ten minutes."

"Okay. Thanks, Dad." Daniel went over to the table and sat down.

_Crap, the toast is burnt._ Troy pulled the burnt toast from the toaster and put in more bread. _Oh, well, I'll eat these. And the boys probably will, too. Except maybe Colby._

As Troy finished up breakfast, the rest of the kids came down, enticed by the good smell of the food-minus the scent of burnt toast that still hung in the air. When the table was set and everyone was served, Troy made up a plate for Gabriella and took it up to her along with a glass of apple juice.

"Who is it?" Gabriella inquired groggily at the sound of the door opening.

"Sorry if I woke you up, baby girl, but I just wanted to give you your breakfast in bed." Before she could say anything, he added, "Don't worry; the kids are already eating. Just enjoy your food, then go get a nice, long shower."

"I don't have time for a shower. I slept too late."

"Oh, honey, I told you earlier, I'm taking care of things while you relax. Trust me. Just take your time and enjoy a little bit of quiet time this morning. Besides, you don't want to be sitting downstairs during Jordyn's party looking like you just had sex, do you?" Troy smiled. "I mean, not that it's a bad thing...and not that our parents don't already know about it...and our friends do, too...I mean, it's kind of obvious since we've been married for almost twenty years, we had our wedding when we were practically still horny teenagers, and we had nine babies together. But the kids don't have to find out."

"I guess you're right." Gabriella sighed. "It just feels like I'm wasting time." She took the plate from Troy and began eating. "And horny teenagers? Troy, I don't think we ever got past that sex-obsessed phase." She giggled. "In case you haven't noticed, we have a _very_ healthy sex life." She giggled.

"You're right," laughed Troy. And no, sweetie, you aren't wasting time. Everyone needs a little break once in a while. Especially after not getting much sleep. You shouldn't feel guilty about it at all." Troy sat on the edge of the bed beside his wife and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Kissing her head, he told her, "I had an interesting conversation with Carly this morning. She was asking where babies came from and how they were born."

"And what did you tell her?"

"Well, she asked if you had to be cut open, so I told her that sometimes you needed surgery to have your babies and left it at that. But when she asked how babies were made, I just sent her to see if Jordyn was awake."

Gabriella laughed. "You could have gave her some sort of vague answer. Now she's probably gonna be coming to me asking that same question in a couple of weeks."

Troy chuckled. "Yeah. But you can probably handle it better than I can. I mean...I'm not a woman...I've never actually gone through giving birth."

"Well, you've seen me do it both ways with all nine of our kids," Gabriella pointed out. "You were there when I pushed them out and when I had my c-sections."

"Yeah, but it would just feel weird explaining it...and I don't know how to do it in a vague way." Troy paused and ran his hand through his hair. "After she asked me that, though, she said that Karina was saying that we're trying to make babies when we go away overnight without the kids. I'm gonna have to talk to her about that. Karina, I mean, not Carly."

Letting out a deep sigh, Gabriella leaned her cheek on Troy's shoulder. "Where is she hearing all this from? Isabelle, I guess?"

"I guess, so," Troy responded. "But I just wish she wouldn't tell the little ones stuff like that."

"Me, too. I mean, I think she's too young to know this much. I know I did give her 'the talk' before, but she seems to realize we make love just for pleasure sometimes. When I first heard about sex, I thought it was just what people did when they wanted a baby. It wasn't until a few years later that I figured out it could just be for pleasure, too."

"You don't think she would try it, do you?"

"Not now, but in about five years, maybe. I mean, Gabe was sneaking out to parties and sleeping with all different girls towards the end of his sophomore year. I'm glad he finally settled down, though. I guess it took more than groundings and other punishments to get him to learn. I just wish he didn't have to learn the hard way, though."

"Yeah." Troy nuzzled his nose into Gabriella's hair. "But I guess that's the way it has to be sometime."

Silence settled over the room for a few minutes.

"You know," Troy picked up again, "I'm glad we waited until we were married to make love. I think it made it a lot more special and enjoyable than it would've been if we hadn't waited."

"I agree. And I also felt more comfortable waiting until we were married. Not that I wasn't acting all shy and awkward on the first night of our honeymoon, but..."

"That was cute, Brie. Very cute. But then in about a week, you got so comfortable you were running around our apartment half naked." After their wedding, Troy and Gabriella had stopped living in dorms and moved into a fairly cheap, one-bedroom apartment that was halfway between their colleges.

"Was not!" protested Gabriella. "Okay, well, sometimes if it was really hot out, I would just walk around in a bra and shorts, but you were the only other one living there, then, so it didn't matter. It's not like I was showing off anything you hadn't seen before."

"And we would also take quite a few showers together before we had kids." Troy winked.

"I know. That was so much fun." Gabriella smiled.

"And I think we need to have a week of all our newlywed activities again."

"What do you mean?" Gabriella looked confused.

"I mean that I booked a week long trip to Hawaii for just the two of us to take in December. It'll be like a second honeymoon." A huge grin spread across Troy's lips. "Only this time around, we can try to actually get out of our room...maybe." Troy and Gabriella hadn't had much money to spend on a honeymoon the first time, so they had ended up just spending three days at a resort in Albuquerque. However, they never actually had done any swimming or other resort activities there. Instead, they'd spent their whole time repeatedly going through a cycle of making love, cuddling and having sweet after-sex talk, and napping in each other's arms. They had showered a couple times-together, of course-and thrown on some clothes to go out and pick up food to eat, but other than that, they hadn't left their bed.

"Troy...are you serious?" Lifting her head from Troy's shoulder, Gabriella looked him in the eyes, her face lighting up with excitement.

"Of course. I know you've wanted to go there since we first started dating, so-"

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" Gabriella flung her arms around Troy. "You're the best husband in the world! I love you so much!"

"I love you, too," came Troy's response, embracing Gabriella tightly.

"Daddy!" Carly's voice interrupted Troy and Gabriella's moment. "Colby keeps sticking his tongue out at me!"

Troy sighed. "Well, sweetie, I guess I'd better go. Have fun with the rest of your relaxing time." He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her lips, then hurried downstairs to solve the problem between his kids.

Yes, a Hawaiian vacation was certainly something both Troy and Gabriella needed...and badly.

* * *

><p><em>Ding dong!<em>

"I'll get it!" Juliet called, rushing to the front door. She was wearing a baby blue sundress that just reached her knees and white wedge-heeled sandals. Her curls were pulled back into a neat half-up-half-down style, and her make-up was done simply, but beautifully. No, all that wasn't just for her little sister's birthday party. It was because Sharpay and Zeke were coming over for it, and with Sharpay and Zeke came their son Jackson.

"Hi, Juliet," Kelsi greeted as the door swung open.

"Jules! I haven't talked to you in so long!" Allison, Ryan and Kelsi's daughter that was in the same grade as Juliet, exclaimed, rushing inside to hug Juliet. "It sucks not being in any of the same classes." Juliet and Allison weren't especially close, but Allison was just the energetic, friendly, cheerful type of girl who was excited to see anyone that was kind to her. She also enjoyed making up nicknames for everyone she met. Juliet was Jules, Carly, who danced at the same studio as her and her sister Bailey, was Carls, and her younger sister Cassandra was Cassa.

"Hi, Allison," Juliet responded with a smile.

Ryan, Kelsi, and their other girls stepped into the house.

"Hi!" Gabriella, who had just entered the room, spoke. Carly was following her complaining about not being able to eat the birthday cupcakes yet.

"Hi, Gabby!" Kelsi went over to hug Gabriella.

"Sweetie, look, Anna's here," Gabriella pointed out to Carly, referring to Ryan and Kelsi's youngest. "Why don't you go ask her if she wants to play something with you?"

"I don't wanna play! I want a cupcake!" whined Carly.

"Excuse me for a minute, Kels." Gabriella then turned around and knelt down to her daughter's level. "If you don't stop complaining, you're going upstairs to sit in your room."

Carly hit Gabriella's arm, the stomped off in the opposite direction.

"Carly Victoria Bolton!" Gabriella scolded firmly, following her daughter. Once she caught up with her, she told her, "Go up to your room and sit on your bed. You do not hit me. And guess what? Now you're not getting a cupcake at all today."

"No!" Carly stomped her foot.

"Yes. You can't act like this. You're six years old."

"And I'll gladly eat your cupcake for you," Ryan, who happened to overhear Gabriella's words to her daughter, cut in.

"Mommy, no! I want a cupcake!" begged Carly.

"What's going on in here?" Troy, who had just entered the room, inquired.

"Carly kept complaining because I told her she couldn't have a cupcake now. Then, I asked her to stop and she hit my arm."

"Carly Victoria, did you do that?" demanded Troy, looking his daughter right in the eye.

"No, Daddy." Carly shook her head.

"I think it's time to go have a talk with Daddy up in me and Mommy's room."

"No!" screamed Carly.

"Yes." Lifting Carly up into his arms, Troy carried her up the steps and into the master bedroom. He then set her down beside him and said, "You know you shouldn't be complaining, right?"

"But I wanted a cupcake!" protested Carly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well, you need to be patient for things like that sometimes. And you especially don't hit people, especially your parents. Do you understand?" Troy's voice was firm.

Carly turned her head away.

"Carly Victoria, look at me." Once he had his daughter's attention once more, he repeated, "Do you understand?"

Nodding, Carly started to cry. "I didn't mean to, Daddy! I just wanted a cupcake!"

"I know, Carly, but you have to learn to use your self-control. And now because you didn't use it, you're not getting any cupcakes today at all! And you have to sit in your room for a little bit. Anna's here, and she was probably looking forward to playing with you, and now because you disobeyed, you've disappointed her as well as yourself."

"But Daddy!" whined Carly.

"No 'buts.' Go to your room and sit there until either me or Mommy comes up and says that you can come out." Troy stood up. "Here, I'll walk there with you."

Wiping the tears off her face with the back of her hand, Carly somewhat reluctantly followed her father into her bedroom and climbed on top of her bed.

"Alright; I'm gonna go back downstairs. Make sure you stay here until I, or Mommy, comes back up. Is that clear?"

Carly nodded.

"Okay, then." Turning around, Troy exited the room and descended the staircase. When he got into the living room, he saw that Taylor, Chad, and their kids along with Sharpay, Zeke, and their children had arrived during his time spent talking with his daughter.

_Ding dong!_

Troy leaned toward the window. "That looks like my parents," he remarked, offering greetings to his friends as he made his way to the door and turned the knob.

"Hi!" Lucille said, stepping into the house, Jack following close behind.

"Hi, Mom!"

"Hey, son!" That was Jack.

"Wow, Dad, do you think you could've brought any more presents?" Troy joked, looking at the box full of gifts that Jack was holding.

"Well, Jordyn's the last granddaughter we're gonna get, so we might as well spoil her while we can," explained Jack. Looking around, he queried, "By the way, where is she?"

Just then, Gabriella approached Jack and Lucille with Jordyn in her arms. Judging by the new outfit she was wearing, Troy guessed she had just had an accident. "Well, now she's right in front of you."

"Hi, sweetie!" Jack put the box of gifts down and held out his arms. "Come to Grandpa."

Gabriella smiled and let her father-in-law take Jordyn.

"Do you need help with anything, honey?" Lucille asked Gabriella.

"Um..." Gabriella took a moment to think. "Yeah. If you want, you can put some plastic cups and the drinks we got out on the table. The cups are on the kitchen counter and the drinks are in the fridge. There's some fruit punch, lemonade, and cherry Coke. And then if it's not too much, after you put those out, could you go out in the garage we have a bunch of junk in and get one more of each drink from the cooler in there?"

"Sure." Lucille walked into the kitchen to do what Gabriella requested.

Gabriella went to follow Lucille, only to be stopped by Troy's hand on her shoulder. "Yes, hun?" she acknowledged, spinning around.

"You still look really sleepy," spoke Troy. "Why don't you sit down and just talk to your friends while I handle the food?"

"It'll be quicker if I do the food," Gabriella responded. "You'll just spend ten minutes looking for a bowl to pour the snack mix into."

"Well, if you tell me where a good one is, then I can go and do it as fast as you can."

"Shut up! I said I was going to do the food, so stop insisting on things!"

A hurt expression crossed Troy's face. He knew Gabriella tended to be moody sometimes while she was pregnant, especially when she was overwhelmed with things on top of that, but he couldn't help feeling dejected. "I'm sorry, baby girl," he apologized, drawing his hand away from her.

Gabriella ignored her husband's apology and headed toward the kitchen without even looking behind her once.

"Aunt Gabriella," Natalia, Chad and Taylor's nine-year-old daughter, began as she walked up to Gabriella. "Could I please have something to drink?" Since Gabriella and Taylor were like sisters and Troy and Chad like brothers, Chad and Taylor's kids called Troy and Gabriella "uncle" and "aunt."

"Sure, sweetie. Just wait a second. Mrs. Bolton is getting the drinks out. We have fruit punch, lemonade, and cherry Coke, or you can just have water."

"I'll have lemonade," responded Natalia.

"Okay. Can you pour it yourself or do you need some help?"

"I can get it myself." Natalia played with her a strand of hair that was in her ponytail. She had definitely gotten her father's hair-thick with small, tight curls.

"Okay."

* * *

><p>"You look...really pretty today," Jackson, Zeke and Sharpay's son, complimented Juliet.<p>

"Thank...thank you," stammered Juliet with a blush as she smoothed her dress. Inside, her heart began to race with excitement and butterflies flew in her stomach.

"So...I've been meaning to ask you..." Jackson started, running a hand nervously through his hair and glancing toward the ground.

"Yes?" Juliet prompted, a smile breaking out upon her face.

"Well, the farewell dance for the end of the school year is coming up in a couple weeks, and I know it might be a little late for this, but I just wanted to know if you would go with me." Jackson felt his heart pound against his chest while he waited for Juliet's response.

"Yes!" Juliet exclaimed. "I'd be so happy to go with you!"

"Really?"

"Yes, really." Then, Juliet's smile suddenly faded. "But you know what? I have to ask my dad first." No matter how big of a crush she had on Jackson, she was a daddy's girl, and always would be. Never would she officially make a big decision without Troy's approval first.

"Okay. Well, you can let me know what he says when you talk to him whenever you get a chance to." Jackson paused. "Um...that sounded stupid...sorry. I'm kind of new to this whole asking girls out thing."

Juliet giggled slightly. "It's okay. And I'll let you know at school on Monday."

"Alright. Thanks." Jackson smiled. "So...um...how old's your little sister now?"

"Three," answered Juliet.

"And she's Jordyn, right? I kind of get the names in your family mixed up sometimes; sorry. It's just kind of hard to keep track."

"Yeah, her name's Jordyn. And it's okay. My family is big, so it's easy to forget who's who."

"Yeah. I mean, I know T.J., Gabe, and Eli, just because they go to our school. But I do have to say that since they're twins, I sometimes get confused with which one's which. And I know Daniel...but the rest of them I get mixed up with."

"It's okay," repeated Juliet. "Well, my littlest sister is Jordyn, my second youngest sister is Carly, and then my youngest brother is Colby, my last sister is Karina, and then you know the rest already."

"M-hm." Jackson nodded, then stood awkwardly in the place he was standing, his eyes cast down toward the carpet.

"You can get something to drink if you want," invited Juliet.

_Well, this is embarrassing,_ Jackson thought. _I should be the one offering her a drink, even if it's her house. It's been two minutes and I already suck at this dating thing. Great._ Aloud, he responded with, "No thanks, I'm okay for now."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Okay, everyone!" The voice that had just spoken belonged to Gabriella. "I just called to order some pizzas, so once they get here, we'll eat. But in the meantime, there's some cheese and crackers, snack mix, and chips in the dining room that everyone can help themselves to."

A large group of kids rushed over to the table and quickly snatched up handfuls of food.

"Brie," Troy began, walking up to his wife. "I'm gonna go up and get Carly from her room now. I think she's been up there long enough to learn a lesson, and plus, she's not getting a cupcake later."

"That's fine," Gabriella said. Then, just as Troy started to head to the stairs, she gently grabbed his arm. "And Troy? I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier. I had no excuse for that."

"It's okay, baby girl. I understand." Troy smiled and took a moment to share a brief kiss with Gabriella before continuing on his way.

* * *

><p>Two hours later, everyone gathered around in the backyard, where some of both the Boltons and the guests had eaten their pizza, to watch Jordyn open her gifts.<p>

"Okay, Jordyn, which one do you want to open first?" asked Gabriella, who was sitting amongst a large group of presents with her daughter on her lap.

Jordyn pointed to a large gift wrapped in purple wrapping paper that had "Happy Birthday" written all over it.

"Alright. You can get it."

Sliding off of Gabriella's lap, Jordyn dragged the present closer to her and began to rip off the paper.

"Oh, wait, sweetie. There's a card," Gabriella pointed out, taking a card from the top of the gift. "Open the card first."

Jordyn continued to tear the wrapping paper from her gift.

"Honey, are you listening?" Gabriella inquired, gently taking her daughter's wrist. "Open the card first so we know who this is from."

Jordyn reluctantly took the card and opened the envelope it was in.

"Let's see..." Gabriella looked at the colorful birthday card that was in Jordyn's hands. "It says, 'Happy birthday to a little girl who is sweet, cute, and full of fun!'" She motioned for Jordyn to open it. Once she did, Gabriella continued with, "'Hope your day is as special as you are! Love Grandpa and Grandma Montez.'"

As soon as Gabriella was finished reading the card, Jordyn tossed it onto the grass and resumed the task of ripping the paper from the present.

"What is it?" Gabriella queried.

"It's a box." Jordyn appeared confused at the large plastic container that she had just uncovered.

"Well, look inside of it." Gabriella then turned to Troy, who was taking pictures, and said, "Could you go inside and get one of those big trash bags for the wrapping paper?"

"Okay," Troy agreed, turning toward the back door.

Jordyn opened the container to reveal plastic high heels and fancy dresses meant to play dress-up in. "Dresses! And shoes like Mommy has!"

"Yeah, that's for dress-up," Maria explained. "I know you always like wearing Mommy's high heels, so I got you some that are meant for girls your age. There's also some make-up in there, too."

"Yay!" Jordyn exclaimed, pulling out a pallet of eye shadow and a stick of lipstick. It was all just plastic, so she wouldn't be able to actually wear it. However, she would believe she was wearing make-up when she put it on, meaning it would be perfect for her.

"What do you say to Grandma and Grandpa?" Gabriella asked.

"Thank you," smiled Jordyn.

Gabriella smiled. "Okay, which present are you opening next?"

Jordyn selected another gift. Once it was opened, she picked another, and another, and another, and continued in that manner until there were no wrapped presents left.

"Alright, now why don't you say thank you to everyone one more time, then we can have cupcakes," Gabriella spoke.

"Thank you!" Jordyn shouted. Besides the dress-up things, she had gotten some clothes, dolls, stuffed animals, Littlest Pet Shop sets, books, and, from Troy and Gabriella, a small bike that was just her size along with a helmet. They had also given her a stuffed animal and a book on her actual birthday, which had been Wednesday, but the biggest present had been saved for her party.

"Okay, now, let me bring out the cupcakes and we'll sing _Happy Birthday_ and eat! There's also ice cream, too, but I'm gonna just leave that inside so it doesn't melt and after we sing, if you want ice cream, you can come in and I'll help the kids get some in a bowl."

Chad raised his hand.

"Yes, Chad?" Gabriella acknowledged.

"Can you spoon some out for me? I'm kind of lazy to do it myself."

Everyone laughed.

"Gosh, Chad, I really don't know how you manage to be a father," Taylor remarked.

"You wonder about him? I wonder about Jason," Martha laughed. "He's even less into it than Chad."

"Hey!" Jason scolded.

"Well, I have Ryan," Kelsi pointed out. "And sometimes I swear that all he thinks about is doing jazz squares and toe stands."

"It's my life!" protested Ryan.

"And then we have Gabriella and Sharpay, who have perfect, helpful husbands," Taylor said.

"Oh, Zeke has his moments," Sharpay assured.

"And when Troy's sick, he's just another baby I have to take care of," laughed Gabriella.

"Okay, moving on," Troy called out. "Brie, go get some cupcakes for us. I'll come with you and grab the candles and some plates."

"No, you stay out here and keep an eye on Jordyn, Carly, and Colby. Eli can come with me to help bring the stuff out." Gabriella glanced at her son, who agreed.

Soon, everything was set up outside. Troy lit the three candles that were crowded onto the cupcake that sat in front of Jordyn, then everybody started to sing.

"Make a wish," Gabriella said once the song was finished.

"Hey, Jordyn!" Chad called out. Making his way over to Jordyn, he whispered in her ear, "Wish that Uncle Chad would have a lifetime supply of food and a new flat screen TV."

Giggling, Jordyn shook her head no, then made a wish and blew out the candles.

Everybody clapped.

Leaning against Troy, Gabriella wrapped her arms around his waist and closed her eyes, ready to go to sleep. There was still another half hour of the party left, but the time that had already passed was enough to wear her out.

Having nine kids while expecting a tenth sure was a challenge.

* * *

><p><strong>Happy Easter, guys! Please review!<strong>


	10. Plans for the Babies

"Daddy," Juliet began as she approached Troy. Surprisingly, he was alone, for Gabriella had taken the younger children shopping and the older ones were all out with friends. "Could I ask you something?"

"Anything, sweetie," Troy, who was on the couch, replied, motioning for his daughter to sit beside him.

Juliet sat down. Taking a deep breath, she queried, "Could I go to the farewell dance at school with Jackson?"

"Jackson Baylor?" Troy said.

Juliet nodded. "Yeah. Yesterday at Jordyn's party, he asked me if I wanted to go with him. I said I would have to check with you and let him know at school Monday."

Letting out a sigh, Troy wrapped his arms around Juliet. "My little girl is growing up so fast," he murmured to himself.

"What did you say, Dad?"

"I said that you're growing up so fast." Troy let go of Juliet. "I feel like I was just holding you for the first time yesterday and now you're gonna go to a dance with a boy! What happened to my little girl?"

"You don't have to say 'yes,' Dad," Juliet reminded Troy.

"But I don't have a non-selfish excuse for saying 'no.' I mean, I've known Jackson his whole life, he's a nice, polite guy, and your mom and I said that you kids could date when you got into high school as long as we approved of the dates you got. And I can't find anything wrong with Jackson, so I'm gonna have to let you go."

"Just because I'm going to this dance doesn't mean I won't still be your little girl," Juliet remarked. "I love you, Daddy." She hugged Troy. "And thank you for giving me permission to go out with Jackson."

"I love you, too, Juliet." Troy returned his daughter's embrace. "And you're welcome." He released Juliet. "Now, when is this dance?"

"Next Friday...so in almost two weeks."

"Okay. Well, you'd better talk to Mom about getting something to wear for it. And she can also give you tips on what to expect your first time going out. I mean, I could try, but I'm a guy, so I think it might be better for you to hear it from a girl."

Juliet nodded in acknowledgement. "I will. Thanks again." She stood up.

"Hey, Juliet, what about I take you to get ice cream? We haven't had any daddy-daughter time in a while."

"Okay. I'll go get shoes on."

"Alright." Troy rose from the couch and, walking into the kitchen, grabbed the magnetic tablet that was always kept on the refrigerator along with a pen and wrote down a note for Gabriella informing him where he and Juliet were going. By the time he was finished, his daughter was waiting near the front door. "Are you ready?" Troy, who was already wearing a pair of sneakers, pulled his keys from his pocket.

"Yeah," Juliet replied.

Troy responded by opening the door and leading the way out to the car. He missed spending time alone with Juliet. Of course he loved all his other children just the same as her, but she was just the one he had the strongest bond with, and he enjoyed strengthening that bond. And now that she was about to start dating, he especially wanted to make sure he kept up with the special daddy-daughter relationship they had.

* * *

><p>"Mom," Juliet spoke. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" It was nighttime, and Gabriella had just put the little ones to bed while the older kids were entertaining themselves in their bedrooms.<p>

"Sure." Gabriella stopped her task of loading up the dishwasher for the night and turned to face her daughter. "What's going on?"

"Well, yesterday Jackson Baylor asked me to the farewell dance at school. I already talked to Dad about it and he said it was okay if I went with him, but he told me I should talk to you about dates and dresses and stuff."

"Okay." Gabriella wasn't at all surprised at the news she had just heard, for Troy had informed her of it earlier in the day. "Let's go to the dining room table and sit down. I'll bring some cookies for us to snack on while we talk." Grabbing the cookie jar that was on the counter, she headed into the dining room and took a seat. Once Juliet was sitting, she started with, "Alright, so first of all, when you're on a date, you need to make sure the guy you with is treating you right. He should be opening doors for you, helping you into the car...well, maybe at your age not helping you into the car, but holding open doors is certainly something that can be done. And he shouldn't ditch you for any reason. Even if he needs to use the bathroom, he should let you know first."

Juliet nodded in acknowledgement.

"And also, good dates should never talk about having sex, especially not at your age on the first date. If he does, dump him right away. I mean, I couldn't see Jackson bringing that up, but it's just something you should be aware of. Remember: always say no to sex. It's far better to wait until you're married, or are at least out of high school and preferably college, to have a baby, and every time you have sex, you run the risk of getting pregnant, even if you use protection or start birth control. Trust me. I know because every birth control pill I've never been on has never worked."

"Don't worry, Mom. I'm not planning on doing anything like that with a guy. I really don't feel ready to have a baby."

"And that's a good thing." Gabriella smiled and grabbed a cookie. "Now, on a date you also need to remember that just because you're the girl doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. You need to be polite and respectful to your date and also, above everything else, be completely honest with him. The worst thing you can do in a relationship is lie."

"Okay."

"Alright. And about a dress...I can take you shopping tomorrow after school so you can get a dress and shoes."

"Okay. Thanks." Juliet took a bite of her cookie.

"You're welcome. Now do you have any questions for me?"

"No. I think I'm good."

"Alright. Well then, you can go."

Standing up, Juliet exited the room.

Troy, who had been sitting in the living room, walked over to Gabriella and sat down beside her. Snatching a cookie, he remarked, "These kids really grow up way too fast."

"I know," sighed Gabriella. "It's hard to believe that our youngest is three already...and our oldest is turning eighteen and going off to college."

"But we have another little one on the way," Troy reminded his wife, gently rubbing her baby bump. Feeling some movement, he inquired, "Is he kicking you?"

"Yeah," giggled Gabriella. "He's been moving around a lot today."

"Well, you are going into the third trimester about now, aren't you?"

Gabriella nodded.

"And that's when the baby starts getting really active, right?"

"Yup." Gabriella smiled. "I'm proud of you for paying attention at my doctor appointments."

"Well, you're my wife. I care about you and our babies." Leaning in, Troy kissed Gabriella's lips.

"I know you do. That's why I love you so much."

"I love you, too, baby girl." Troy ran his fingers through Gabriella's hair. "And I always will."

* * *

><p>Gabriella adjusted her glasses as she sat back in her chair. She had just finished addressing envelopes that contained invitations to T.J.'s graduation. Unfortunately, it had taken longer than it should have due to the fact that Jordyn was on her lap, and had been trying to grab the pen the whole time Gabriella was writing.<p>

"Mom, I'm taking Courtney to her appointment now," Gabe announced as he came down the stairs, his girlfriend following close behind. Because of her pregnancy, Courtney had a tutor from East High come over once a week to keep her up to date on her classes so she wouldn't have to go to school for the rest of the year. Gabe, however, was still going, but had taken the day off to drive Courtney to the doctor.

"Oh, okay," Gabriella acknowledged. "Is this the day you're having the ultra sound?"

"Yeah," replied Courtney. "I'm four months into my pregnancy now, so I'm hoping the doctor can tell us if we're having a boy or a girl."

"You should be able to find out today," smiled Gabriella.

"Great!"

"You ready?" Gabe checked, pulling his keys from his pocket.

Courtney nodded.

"Bye-bye!" Jordyn shouted.

"Bye," Gabe and Courtney both responded before walking out the door.

"Let's take these out to the mailbox," Gabriella said. Standing up, she settled Jordyn onto her hip and held her with arm while she used her free hand to grab all the envelopes.

"Mommy, I have to go potty," Jordyn told her mother.

"Let's go potty before we go out, then." Gabriella set her daughter down and followed her to the bathroom. She then waited outside the door until she was finished to make sure she was okay, then went in to help her wash her hands. "Are you all ready now?"

"Mm-hm."

Gabriella picked up Jordyn again along with the envelopes, then made her way out to the mailbox. After putting the invitations in there, she went back inside. "So, sweetie, Mommy doesn't have anything to do right now, so what about I take you to the park? Do you wanna go to the park?"

Jordyn nodded.

"Okay. Go get your shoes on and then we can go." Gabriella placed Jordyn on the ground.

Jordyn eagerly ran off to get her shoes. When she returned a few seconds later, Gabriella smiled and, taking her hand, led her out to the car and helped her into her seat.

"Mommy, at the park I wanna go on the big girl swing!" Jordyn told Gabriella.

"You can," said Gabriella, climbing behind the wheel.

"Yay!" Jordyn clapped her hands. "I love you, Mommy!"

"Aww, thanks, honey. I love you, too."

"And I also love Daddy and T.J. and Juliet and Eli and Karina and Gabe and Carly and Colby and Daniel and Grandma and Grandpa Bolton and Grandma and Grandpa Montez." Jordyn sounded proud.

_Aww, I wish Troy were here. He would love this,_ Gabriella thought. Cute moments with the kids had always been something she and Troy had always greatly enjoyed. And because they had lots of kids, they had gotten a lot of those special moments that made the pain involved in giving birth to ten children completely worthwhile.

* * *

><p>That evening, all the Boltons were gathered in the living room. Since Gabe and Courtney had found out the gender of their baby that day, they had wanted to share it with the family, since the baby would be Troy and Gabriella's grandchild and the kids' niece or nephew.<p>

"So, who wants to guess before we tell you?" Gabe asked.

"A girl?" Carly answered hopefully.

"Yeah! A baby sister!" Jordyn shouted, much to the amusement of her parents and the older kids. However, no one wanted to ruin her enthusiasm by telling her that the baby wouldn't be her sibling.

"I think it's a boy," Troy remarked.

"Me, too," agreed Gabriella.

"Anyone else wanna take a guess?" queried Gabe.

No one responded.

"Alright, then." This time it was Courtney who spoke. "Here are the pictures of my ultra sound that I got today." She held up two pictures of her unborn baby. "And it is a..." She paused. "...It's a girl."

Everyone clapped.

Wiping a tear of happiness from her eye, Gabriella first hugged Troy, then Gabe, then Courtney. "Aw, I'm gonna have a granddaughter! This is amazing. What are you gonna name her?"

"We haven't gotten that far yet, Mom," Gabe spoke.

"Yeah," Courtney broke in. "We still need to talk about that."

"I'm gonna have a baby sister!" Jordyn exclaimed, clapping her hands and jumping up and down.

Again, no one dared to spoil Jordyn's excitement by telling her that the baby would be her niece rather than her sister.

"So, where will the baby sleep?" Eli wondered.

"Well, we've been working on the attic for some time now," Troy began. "And I think if we're really diligent about finishing it up, we can get it done before your brother is born, and then we can use it as the nursery for both babies."

"I want my baby near me at night, though," Courtney said.

"You can sleep up there," Gabriella pointed out. "The attic can fit two cribs and a bed."

"Oh, okay. That'll work, then."

"And I'll be leaving for college soon, so you'll have an empty bed to take there," T.J. reminded.

"Yeah; everything will work out," concluded Troy. "Now, how about we have some dessert?"

Everyone stood up and walked over to the kitchen table. The Bolton family was large, yes, and endlessly growing, but no matter what, things would always work out.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm back! Sorry I was gone for so long. I was preoccupied with my Zanessa fic I'm writing through Twitlonger, plus I've been babysitting and getting ready for finals. Can't believe I'm almost done junior year already! But here's a chapter...it's short, but it's a chapter. LOL. Please review!<strong>


	11. Author's Note

To all readers:

I know you were expecting a new update, and I'm honestly sorry to disappoint. However, I've just been lacking inspiration lately due to 1) Zanessa not being together and 2) the lack of readers I have. I used to get pretty much feedback, but lately it seems like people just aren't interested in my work anymore. I understand that's most likely my fault for not updating often, so I'm not blaming anyone but myself. But anyway, besides that...I now have a babysitting job nine hours a day twice a week along with a second babysitting job one or two weekends a month. In addition to that, I'm petsitting for neighbors that have been going away and getting things in order for my senior year of high school, which is coming up in the fall. That means I'm trying to figure out what courses I need to take to graduate, organize times for college placement testing, figure out what's required for my major, etc. On top of all this, I'm working to get my drivers' license, which is very important. So this is why I haven't been on lately.

So now, I'm going to tell you about my new story. The only story I have inspiration for at the moment is the Zanessa one that I'm posting on Livejournal. So whenever I have spare time to write, that's the one I work on. It makes me happy and I'm inspired to write it because it talks about Zanessa's future and Vanessa's struggle with the decision to breakup with Austin. I intend for the story to follow them through engagement, marriage, and children with all the difficulties of being a celebrity. (If you're interested, the title of the story is _Second Chances_, and it can be found on my Livejournal account "zanessalove2013" and I also post it through Twitlonger on Twitter for the people who don't like Livejournal. You can follow me on Twitter troyellaizlove.)

But anyway, the bottom line is that I'm putting my stories on fanfiction on an official hiatus. I have no idea how long the hiatus will be. It could be a week, it could be a year. I'm not going to delete because I might get hit with inspiration to continue or I may show up with some oneshots or something later on, so I'm not going to officially discontinue anything.

Also, many of you have probably noticed that my M-rated oneshots are gone. Fanfiction deleted them because they found them offensive, which really annoyed me. I do not have them saved on my computer, so I can't even repost, which really made me angry. So, I guess they're sadly gone forever:'(

Alright, so I think that's about it. I will still be on here to read other authors' work and to answer PMs, but I just won't be writing on here for a while. Please don't ask me when I'm coming back to write because I honestly won't be able to give an answer. I love everyone that gave me kind reviews and suggestions for my work and I really appreciate all the reviews, subscribers, and favorites I got. If you want to follow me more closely, check out my Twitter ( troyellaizlove) and visit my Livejournal to read my Zanessa fanfic (zanessalove2013). Thanks again for supporting me all these years and thanks for putting up with me through deleted stories, crappy chapters, and late updates. Like I said, I'm not official ending these stories; I'm just putting them on hiatus because I don't know when I'll have the time/inspiration to write again.

Thanks for reading this very long A/N, and I hope you're all enjoying your summer:)

-assenaz2013


	12. AN

**Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you all know that I'm starting fresh on a new profile. I'll still be writing Troyella, so go check me out at ~zefronsangel. I'll be posting the updated version of my story ****_Win Some, Lose Some_**** soon.**

**ZefronsAngel**


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